White Figs

Our tour of southern Italy included a stop in Cilento, where we toured a white fig laboratorio. A well-dressed Italian man welcomed us with sparkling wine with lemon ice cubes and dried white figs, a specialty of the region. Sipping wine, eating figs and basking in the Italian countryside might just be heaven on earth for me.

The laboratorio (which is just fancy for "factory") was pristine, and extremely dedicated to preserving the art of producing white figs. We also got to do a fig tasting. I didn't even know this was thing, but it is and it is awesome.

First up, dried figs stuffed with fennel seeds and orange rinds served atop a fresh bay leaf:

This was followed by fresh whipped ricotta topped with white fig molasses and hazelnuts. The spoon was specifically designed for the bowl, which made the whole eating process even cooler. 

Lastly, dried figs soaked in liquor and then dusted with cocoa powder:

I prefer fresh figs, but these dried white figs were also tasty. Overall, a great, great day. I bought a bottle of the fig molasses, which I'm thinking could be tasty on grilled peaches. I hope it survives the plane ride, otherwise I will have some very sticky, dirty underwear.