I have to be honest: I am not a big fan of fresh figs on their own. It might be a texture thing. Or it could be the symbiotic relationship figs have with the fig wasp (shiver).
What I do like, however, is that figs, for all their short harvest season here in Ventura County, have a long history of symbolism around the world. From the primordial association with the Earth mothers as the Tree of Life, to being the tree under which the Buddha achieved enlightenment, to mentions in the Bible, the Qur’an and the Hadith as representing the promised land or paradise, to even more allegories in even more ancient cultures, including (maybe especially) Roman and Greek.
No one seems to know how many fig species exist (the latest published count—735—was in 2005 by Berg & Corner in a paper called “Moraceae: Ficeae” in the journal Flora Malesiana— Series 1, Spermatophyta), but everyone agrees that figs have been a part of human civilization since its dawn and, today, still represent fertility, wisdom, abundance and the cycle of life.
So while thwith our resident expert Chef Robin Goldstein, and on page 10 we share the story of a family that grows actual figs at AZ-Ranch. But even there, co-owner Patricia Zadeh says of her husband, Ali, “Everything he puts his hand to just grows more abundant.” And that includes the farm!
We see further abundance in the story about the dragon fruit farmer in Thousand Oaks who just wanted to grow this fascinating fruit and is now an expert with trees to sell.
But let’s talk about symbiosis. The fig wasp would not exist without the fig tree and the fig tree would not bear fruit without the fig wasp. I think this is also true of our local communities. “We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us,” wrote Herman Melville. On a hyperlocal level, this is what the owners at Windy Hill Ranch live by (story on page 26), providing an environment for their employees and chosen family to develop and share products that celebrate their own culture. And on a localized level, this is the philosophy behind Hearth, a new restaurant in Moorpark that is putting people and community first, and thriving because of it.
More personally, it is the philosophy of this magazine. Every piece of our puzzle is intimately connected to the fibers of our local community: our readers; our advertisers; our contributors; our printer and every single person with a hand in growing, producing or serving local food. And of that I am a big fan.
May this fall season bring you to many tables of connection.
Happy eating,
Tami
