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Che figo! (lit. What a fig!) - So cool!

A first love is never forgotten: the fig is believed to be the oldest cultivated fruit in the Mediterranean area and has left evidence of its importance in art, culture and religion since the dawn of time. Just to give a few examples: in the Old Testament it was synonymous with wealth and abundance, for the ancient Egyptians it was a symbol of the victory over death, ancient Greeks attributed its birth to the god Dionysus and considered its fruits “worthy of nourishing orators and philosophers”. Plato was so fond of figs that he was nicknamed “fig eater” and advised his young students to eat plenty of them because, he said, “they boost intelligence”. In addition to being rich in sugar, they contain high levels of calcium, iron and potassium, phosphorus and vitamins, and have good antioxidant, energizing and anti-inflammatory properties.

A city founded on figs

Their sweetness and virtues did not fail to seduce the ancient Romans who over time spread their cultivation throughout the Italian peninsula and the whole Empire. After all, the fig tree was also connected to the foundation of Rome: legend has it that near a wild fig – the Ficus Ruminalis – the floating trough with Romulus and Remus came to rest and beneath the fig the she-wolf suckled and fed the twins. According to historians, after the demise of the old tree on the Palatine’s slopes another fig sprouted spontaneously in the Forum: the plant was considered a good omen and the fate of the city depended on its state of health, which explains why it was promptly replaced as soon as it dried up... And always under a fig tree the feasts of Juno Caprotina were celebrated on 7 July, an ancient all-female solemnity attended by handmaids and free women.

Fatal figs

Tender and utterly seductive, figs have won hearts but have also started wars: because of them Rome’s historical rival Carthage was destroyed. In the second century BC, “Carthago delenda est”, “Carthage must be destroyed” was the admonition constantly repeated by Marcus Porcius Cato, otherwise known as Cato the Censor, convinced that the Romans should never come to terms with their age-old enemy. Too dangerous and, above all, too close. A proof thereof? A basket of fresh figs coming straight from Carthage, exhibited as a powerful tool of persuasion to all the senators who were reluctant to a military intervention. But figs are also linked to the death of Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen famous in history as the lover of Julius Caesar and later of Marcus Anthony. Cleopatra loved figs so much that she wanted the asp with which she killed herself to be hidden among their leaves. At least according to what Plutarch says... Lastly, rumors had it that Augustus was killed with a poisoned fig that his wife Livia gave him.

In art and cuisine

Today, the varieties of figs run into the hundreds but Pliny already listed 29 of them, including the purple and extra sweet “Black Brogiotto”, the pot-bellied protagonist of many Renaissance still lifes. A basket filled with magnificent ripe green and black figs is shown in a famous fresco from Poppea’s Villa at Oplontis: since ancient times, figs inspired artists and food lovers alike. Suitable for young and old, and, according to Pliny, even able to reduce wrinkles, they accompanied desserts and cheeses, or were flavored with salt, vinegar and garum, a fish sauce. By boiling them, Romans produced the so-called “fig honey”, precious for sweetening food. Ancient recipes also include the special dried fig loin (to be pounded with feet) by Columella and the “iecur ficatum” by Apicius, the most famous gastronome in ancient Rome. This was a delicacy based on the liver of animals fattened with figs, and it was so fashionable that it also influenced the dictionary: not from “iecur” but from “ficatum” comes the word “fegato”, the Italian for “liver”.

How much is a dried fig worth

The fresh fig is a rare commodity that you can only get in the summer and early fall – with a smaller harvest in June, and a larger harvest from July to September. In order to preserve and eat fig fruits throughout the year, people soon learned to dry them: many dried figs have been found, for example, in the Herculaneum archeological site, stored in clay or glass containers. Ovid says dried figs, dates and honey were offered on New Year’s Eve to friends and relatives as a wish for the new year. But the Roman Empire itself was built on figs: Tacitus, in his Annales, explains that legionaries were paid with a handful of salt (hence the name salary) and dried figs, which were very useful in military campaigns since they are so nutrient dense. An old soldier, unable to defend Rome, was “not worth a dried fig”, an expression used still today to indicate someone or something that has no use.

Noble and popular

Emperor Augustus ate them with cheese and fish, Gallienus offered them in his sumptuous banquets but figs, plentiful and easily grown, were appreciated by less well-to-do classes due to their energetic properties, were included in the meals granted to slaves and have been a staple of farmers’ diets for centuries, so much so that they were called the bread of the poor. So, at the time of Emperor Diocletian, the cheapest product on the market was a paste obtained by pounding and mixing with aromatic herbs figs left to dry in the sun. Today, figs color and give flavor to every type of dish and continue to play a leading role, both in gourmet recipes and in simple yet sublime traditional dishes that the Romans still love: pizza and figs or prosciutto and figs.

Artisan gelato, a fascinating history of the fusion of cultures.
The tradition

From the Egyptians to the recipes of Pliny the Elder, to the “walk and eat ice cream” of today, the history of ice cream and sorbet is fascinating and much more complex than you might think. The evidence points to an ancient tradition that traces its roots as far back as the 12th millennium BC when people began to appreciate the benefits of a “cold drink” and preserve fruit, milk and honey, the only sweetener known of at least until the end of the 9th century.

It was during this period, when the Arabs conquered Sicily, that the use of sugar cane began to spread and meet with the flavours of the Mediterranean and the ice caves of Mount Etna known as neviere, to create the first sorbets. During the Middle Ages a technique was developed in Asia that became known in different regions of the Italian peninsula, of freezing juices by placing them in containers surrounded by ice.  

However, it was not until the Renaissance that ice cream and sorbet featured in the banquets of courts and sovereigns to bring prestige to eminent families, in monasteries for their illustrious guests, and in the recipe books of cookery scholars. On marrying the future King of France in 1533, Catherine de’ Medici took with her Ruggeri, an ingenious poulterer, for his phenomenal invention of “sweet and perfumed water ice”, which bewitched the palates of the court. Similarly, in the second half of the 16th century the brilliant and eclectic architect Bernardo Buontalenti installed special ice houses in Florence to introduce frozen flavours to court banquets.

Indeed “iced water” appears in a royal patent by Louis XIV of France for Procopio de’ Coltelli from Messina, founder of the famous Caffè Procope, who is credited with introducing ice creams, granitas and sorbets to France at the end of the 17th century. 
The profession of ice cream chef soon emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries, with great chefs constantly perfecting the technique and contributing to its rise and global spread in the 19th and 20th centuries. Several incredible recipes have been discovered in the past, such as bread ice cream dating from the late 18th century, and a recipe from 1808 by Francesco Leonardi for truffle ice cream. A rich history of the exchange of cultural influences between people.   

But how does artisan gelato differ from industrial gelato? To understand more we compare the two types. Artisan gelato is characterized by the use of fresh raw materials in season, it contains less fat and less air than industrial gelato, and is served at a higher temperature. This means it has more flavour on contact with the tongue and less calories to burn ‒ around 1/3 compared to industrial gelato! Why not try making gelato at home? With or without an ice cream maker, but with fruit strictly in season!  

Recipe: Fruit Gelato

Ingredients
1/2 milk Vanilla pod
4 egg yolks
6 spoons of sugar
150g of fruit  

Method
Pour the milk into a pan, add the vanilla pod and bring to the boil over a very low heat. Take the four egg yolks and add them to the sugar, whipping it until pale and fluffy. Add this mixture to the sieved milk and heat until it thickens. Add the 150 grams of fruit that has been puréed, and pour the mixture into a steel mould. Leave to rest in the freezer until solid and stir with a spatula before serving.  

Where to eat it
Rome offers excellent artisan gelato shops. To spot them, look at the colours of the gelato and whether the flavours available are in season or not. 

Since the times of Imperial Rome, when the Roman Empire extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the Caspian Sea, tasty preparations and condiments were dedicated to fish species and their processing.
 
The first written testimonies date back to the first century. De Re Coquinaria, a famous work by Marcus Gavius Apicius, gastronome, cook, and Roman writer, collects a series of recipes devoted to coeval cuisine and sauces for boiled, fried, and roasted fish dishes, in particular in Chapter IX, Thalassa (The sea) and Chapter X, Halieus (The fisherman).
 
Over the centuries, the fish flowed copiously on the sales counters of the old City in such quantity and assortment to leave amazed travelers of every era.
 
In the late ancient and medieval ages, the centre of gravity of this extraordinary world were the Corinthian columns and the surrounding structures of the Portico of Octavia, in the heart of the Jewish quarter of Rome, whose spaces were used for the sale of fish. The area, known as Forum piscium or Pescheria Vecchia (old fish market), was active until the end of the 19th century.
 
Today, of the lively activity of the old market, only the stone to the right of the great arch of the Portico remains. All you have to do is admire one of the beautiful watercolors by Ettore Roesler Franz to immerse yourself in those intense scenes of folk life immortalized by the artist.

The prime importance of fish in the diet of the Romans reflects in the number of folk recipes for the various culinary fish species adopted to this day, among which are those dedicated to two bivalve molluscs, the Cannolicchi, the Jackknife-clams (Ensis minor) and the Lupini, the Lupins (Venus gallina). The first has a sweet and savory taste, and the second is delicate and marine.

Together with the Tellinas (Donax trunculus), they represent the typical seafood of the Roman Littoral that arrives on the banks of the fish shops of the Capital directly from the ports of Anzio and Fiumicino. Both are cooked in a simple way to enhance their delicate organoleptic qualities and preserve the characteristic taste.
 
You can easily find Cannolicchi and Lupini in our fish shops, but you shold know some technical indications for more conscious consumption. Both are grabbed with boats called hydraulic dredges on the seabed, respectively of 2-5 meters for the Cannolicchi and 5-8 meters for the Lupini.
 
The Cannolicchi, caught all year round, except in April and May when they reproduce, are so sensitive to pollution that they disappeared from our tables for about ten years. They returned only at the beginning of the 2000s. Sweeter and softer meat than those of the Atlantic Ocean, you can recognize them by the smaller size and the light color of the shell.
 
The Lupini, on the other hand, are the typical Mediterranean clam, not bred and fished all year round on our coast, excluding April and September. They have an oval shape and are smaller than the clam.
 
Here is a traditional but easy recipe you can cook with shellfish to enhance their delicate flavors.

Ingredients (doses for four people):

• 1 kg Lupini or Cannolicchi
• one bunch of parsley
• two garlic cloves
• hot chili pepper
• extra virgin olive oil (as needed)

If you have not bought the shellfish already cleaned, put them for a few hours in the cool to drain the sand in saltwater (1 tablespoon of salt in 1 liter of water).

Fry the garlic, oil, and chili in a frying pan. Once the sauce is ready, add the Lupini or the Cannolicchi, cover with a lid and continue cooking over high heat until all the shellfish open.

Now, place the mollusks in another container, remove those that have not opened, filter the sauce, and add it together with the chopped parsley.

Accompany everything with toasted homemade bread and a good glass of iced white wine.