Fichi di Cosenza (dried figs)

History and origin

For centuries the dried fig was a precious food reserve for Calabria's farmers and shepherds. Writers and travellers tell how a handful of figs was the snack in the fields or the addition to a poor meal of bread, onion and a few olives. Long boiling of the fruit gave fig "honey", a sweet syrup that kept for months and was used for home-made sweets such as turdilli.

Cultivation probably dates back to Magna Graecia, and its presence around Cosenza is documented from the sixteenth century. In 1715 the scholar Anton Maria Salvini described the Dottato variety as of special merit, and the Murat statistics of 1812 record that Cosenza figs were already exported beyond the Kingdom of Naples; by 1920 the same variety was found in the United States under the name Kadota.

From a humble food the dried fig has become a sought-after product. In 2011 the Fichi di Cosenza were registered as a Protected Designation of Origin, on the initiative of the Consorzio Fico Essiccato del Cosentino.

Sources: ARSAC (Regione Calabria) — I prodotti DOP, IGP e PAT della Calabria · Qualigeo — Fichi di Cosenza DOP · ARSAC — Fichi di Cosenza DOP · eAmbrosia — Fichi di Cosenza (PDO-IT-0682)

Area and method of production

The production area lies in Cosenza province, from sea level up to 800 metres, and broadly covers the Crati and Savuto valleys, between the Pollino to the north and the Sila to the south. The fruit is the Dottato variety, known locally as ficu siccati or ficu janchi.

The figs ripen and wither on the tree, helped by the mild climate: when the skin turns from green to yellow-beige and the stalk bends they become passuluni and are picked, by hand only, between August and October. They then finish drying in one of two ways: in the sun, on cannizze, cane racks raised off the ground, for three to seven days, or in glass or other transparent greenhouses.

In the first days the figs are turned at least twice a day, and tradition had them covered with cloths at night against the damp. About three kilos of fresh fruit are needed for one kilo of dried figs.

Sources: Qualigeo — Fichi di Cosenza DOP · ARSAC (Regione Calabria) — I prodotti DOP, IGP e PAT della Calabria

How to recognise it

Fichi di Cosenza are shaped like an elongated drop, sometimes slightly flattened at the tip, always with a short, thin stalk. The skin ranges from deep straw yellow to light beige, with faint, barely visible dark lengthwise lines.

The flesh is soft and pasty, with small seeds, few and not very crunchy, and the taste is very sweet, almost like honey. According to ARSAC the Dottato variety dries almost entirely on the tree, withstands rain and gives full, fleshy, pale fruit that keeps a long time.

They are sold in three sizes: large, 55 to 65 fruits per kilo; medium, 66 to 85; small, over 85. They are available from January to May and from October to December, in wooden or other trays and in cardboard packs, and should be kept somewhere cool and dry.

Sources: Qualigeo — Fichi di Cosenza DOP · ARSAC — Fichi di Cosenza DOP

In the kitchen

Dried figs are eaten at the start or end of a meal, but above all they are the basis of a traditional pastry-making rich in shapes. Crocette, or crucetti, are figs opened and laid crosswise, filled with walnuts or almonds and citrus peel and baked; nocchette are stuffed with walnuts or almonds and orange peel.

Then there are stuffed figs and baked figs, palloni wrapped in fig leaves, jette or braids of figs woven together and baked, little crowns strung on a myrtle twig, fig salami and fig honey. Many of these preparations are listed among Calabria's traditional food products.

Today the dried fig also meets white and dark chocolate, goes into liqueurs and savoury recipes, and jams and compotes are paired with cheeses of different ages. Diced candied citron from the nearby Riviera dei Cedri can enrich the crocette.

Sources: ARSAC (Regione Calabria) — I prodotti DOP, IGP e PAT della Calabria · Qualigeo — Fichi di Cosenza DOP

Where to taste it

The land of dried figs is the Crati valley, with the nearby Savuto valley: hills with a temperate climate where, between August and October, figs are picked and finish drying on cane racks in the sun. Cosenza, the main town of the valley, is the natural starting point.

The Consortium holds the Fichi Festival in Cosenza: the 2024 edition, from 19 to 21 September, combined conferences on the supply chain with a final day at Villa Rendano featuring cooking shows, tastings and new recipes. The PDO figs are on sale from October to May, with a pause in the summer months.

From the Crati valley it is easy to reach the Pollino villages of Altomonte and Morano Calabro and the Sila plateau, for a trip that combines the landscapes and flavours of the Cosenza area.

Sources: ARSAC (Regione Calabria) — I prodotti DOP, IGP e PAT della Calabria · ARSAC — Fichi di Cosenza DOP · ARSAC — Fichi Festival a Cosenza, programma 2024 · Qualigeo — Fichi di Cosenza DOP

Protection

• Protected designation of origin (PDO) — PDO-IT-0682 (eAmbrosia — Fichi di Cosenza (PDO-IT-0682))

When

• Harvest: August–October (Qualigeo — Fichi di Cosenza DOP)
• Summer
• Autumn

Where

Calabria

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