Fig Lore and Legend

Fig Legend and Lore

The Greeks believed the fig was a gift of Demeter, and made sacred to Dionysus.

The fig tree is noted as the Tree of Life and Knowledge from Central Africa to the Far East. The Bo tree, under which Buddha meditated, was a variety of the fig tree, a cutting of which purportedly is still perpetuating in Ceylon.

The term sycophant, meaning a servile, self-seeking flatterer, literally translates to "one who shows the fig." The term dates back to the ancient Greek fig trade and originally referred to one who informed on fig smugglers.

Probably one of the first things that comes to mind is the cookie called Fig Newtons made by the Kennedy Biscuit Works of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts (now Nabisco). The original story of the naming of the Fig Newton cookie is murky, and the subject of many urban legends. The most reliable report attributes the name to Newton, Massachusetts, a town near the manufacturing plant. The company already had several lines of cookies named after regional areas, as a marketing practice to drum up local business. Several other nearby cities were considered, but Newton won out.

More about Figs:
• Fig Equivalents and Cooking Tips
• Fig Varieties and Terms
• Fig Selection and Storage
• Fig Legend and Lore
• Fig History
• Fig Recipes
_{Black Mission Fig Photo © 2006 Peggy Trowbridge, licensed to About.com, Inc.}