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Give a Fig

© Audrey Stallsmith

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer.
We won't go until we get some;
We won't go until we get some;
We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here.
from We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Figs have been with us, quite literally, forever. Genesis 3:7 reports of Adam and Eve that "the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." So the tree came in handy from the beginning, though not in quite the way that had been intended!

The fruits of ficus carica, however, did become and still remain an essential in Biblical lands as well as much of the rest of the world. In Jotham's parable (Judges 9:8-14) the fig tree was even the other trees' second choice-after the olive-to rule over them. Although California is the second leading producer of figs, behind Turkey, I'm afraid we Americans still tend to think of the fruits as a rare delicacy. We also frequently associate them with Christmas, because of the reference to figgy pudding in a famous carol.

That dessert was probably originally a steamed suet pudding laced with spices. Suet has a slightly musky flavor not too popular with modern palates, however--although the pudding made from it is actually quite good, if you serve it hot and ladle a sweet sauce liberally over it. But suet does tend to harden when cold. So many modern recipes call for butter instead.

Although relatively small since it only grows to about 20 feet, the fig tree, with its lobed leaves and purple or yellow pear-shaped fruit, is quite attractive. Perhaps that's what led to the term "full fig" being applied to anyone in elaborate dress, and "fine fig" being used to describe excellent physical condition.

The tree is also unusual in that it generally produces at least two crops, which is probably what causes it to stand for "prolific" in the Language of Flowers. The first of those crops appears on old wood before the leaves sprout. That explains the baffling incident in the Gospels where Christ curses a barren fig tree. Even though the tree had apparently leafed out early, the very appearance of leaves indicated that it should have had fruit on it. So that fig might have been considered the ultimate hypocrite, being all show!

The copyright of the article Give a Fig in Historical Plants is owned by Audrey Stallsmith. Permission to republish Give a Fig in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.