play with your food

our neighbors, jean-luc and nicole,brought over a heaping plate full of black figs. they had gone out to their orchard to pick the last figs of the season, all at once, because rain was forecast. hence the heaping plate. if they had brought over say 6 figs, steve and i would have eaten them very intentionally, one at a time, savoring the end of the fig season. but, a heaping plate of figs in another thing entirely. the skin is thin, so they won’t keep long. it means i had permission, born of necessity, to play with my food. they were no longer precious morsels of mediterranean sunshine, that won’t return for another year. they were perishable organic matter that will go to waste in a matter of days if not used right away. in the end, the figs got used three ways; 1) we ate the best with gratitude for such neighbors, 2) i made two great still blog photos by cutting them open and revealing their lush interiors, and 3) steve made jam with my cut-up remains. so, in fact, fig season will now be extended, with butter and baguette slices, for a number of mornings.

black fig pinwheeled