Figs - Mallorca's sweet little fruits

Sweet, delicious, Mallorca!

This variety! Around 2,200 different varieties of figs grow in the Mediterranean. About 250 native species thrive in the Balearics alone, 180 of them in Mallorca. In late summer, the fine fruit is ready to be enjoyed. The mulberry plants are considered to be among the oldest cultivated plants of mankind. This is confirmed not least by archaeological findings of about 11,400 years old remains of dried figs, found in a Neolithic settlement in today's West Bank.

Fig trees have belonged to the island of Mallorca for well over 2,000 years. Already the Phoenicians cultivated them, later also the Romans, the Moors, then the Christians. So it is no wonder that the higos have been appreciated by the locals for a very long time and are on the menu of the islanders.

Figs are real team players

But fig trees are also all-rounders. First, they provide wonderful shade in the summer with their large leaves, and then they bear aromatic fruit from August until September. Fresh from the tree, the fruits taste particularly delicious. Once broken open, they can be eaten directly with the skin and seeds, or you can nibble the soft flesh out of the skin. Of course, you can also cut them open and spoon them out, kiwi-style. They also make a great salad, dessert, fig cake or tart. And tastes Mallorca's famous pastry snail: the ensaimadas. In a sauce with hearty meat dishes they are a hit, with goat cheese they are the best companion. Even in a refreshing summer punch they present themselves as tasty team players.

However, once harvested, they demand respect in dealing with themselves. After all, they are sensitive creatures and highly sensitive to pressure. Long storage and keeping times are nothing for fresh fruit. But fortunately they can be dried and preserved.

The colour ranges from green to violet

Figs come in a wide range of colors, from green and yellowish to purple and even reddish brown. And they are also healthy. After all, they are rich in potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium, B-vitamins and vitamin A. In this respect, they are a suitable snack for the break. As far as calories are concerned, 100 grams of figs provide around 60 kilocalories. If they are dried, however, they have about 280 kilocalories, i.e. more than 4.5 times as many. For one simple reason: figs contain 80 percent water. This is lost during the drying process. As a result, their fructose content increases.

From Carlina to Victòria: A visit to Mallorca's Garden of Eden

If you love figs more than anything, you'll feel like you're in paradise at the Son Mut Nou finca near Llucmajor. The pharmacist Montserrat Pons i Boscana runs his fig finca there with almost irrepressible passion. He has planted 3,200 fig trees, from all corners of the world. Of course also from the Balearic Islands. Among them are species with such beautiful names as Alacantina Negra from Montuïri. Or Albacor Blanca from Campos. Carlina from Algaida and Victòria from Porreres are also among them.

Still others have appellations such as "Lady's Neck" (Coll de Dama) or "Queen" (Reina). At Son Mut Nou, however, plants from the Spanish mainland and from distant countries such as Thailand and Indonesia also thrive under the Mallorcan sun in the heart of the Migjorn. Or as Montserrat Pons puts it, "The fig species I have planted here on the finca come from Spain to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of Argentina to Canada." And so it is that fig lovers discover over 1,480 different varieties there. Among them are rare specimens that are about to disappear.

Fig beer, fig pâté, figs with chocolate

Not only to show this incredible diversity, but also to preserve it and keep it as a gene pool, as a genetic resource - that is part of the heart's desire of Pons, who studied pharmacy. His fig collection is one of the largest in the world.

The Finca Son Mut Nou can be visited after advance notification. There is tasting desired. And when it's not fig season, the apothecary offers other products from his finca such as fig bread, fig jam, fig pâté, fig mustard, dried figs, figs with dark chocolate, figs with light chocolate and such exotic things as fig coffee, fig tea, fig beer. There is even fig wine. Salute!

And another tip: In Lloret de Vistalegre in the heart of the island traditionally takes place on the 1st Saturday in September the great festival of figs: the Festa des Sequer.