I am one of those who go crazy when figs season comes. As a child I was not a fan, to me the fig texture was nothing more than a set of mini larvae inside of a green skin that left my hands gluing. Thank God that over time our palate evolves, as well as the way we see some foods, otherwise i would still be losing one of the best fruits on the planet!

By itself fresh figs are enough to make me happy. Sitting at a table with a big bowl full of figs in front of me is literally the vision of paradise. But when figs season comes, my mind is immediately invaded by a bunch of ideas to cook and create with this delicious fruit.

But before dive into the recipe itself, let me share with you some fun facts about this unique fruit.

Figs are among the oldest fruits consumed by humans: “Sumerian stone tablets dating back to 2500 B.C. record culinary use of figs, and remains of fig trees were found during excavations of Neolithic sites from 5000 B.C.”

In some religions figs are considered a symbol of fertility, peace and prosperity. Fig trees can last up to 100 years and reach a height of 15 meters!

Now wow, “Botanically, the fig isn’t actually a fruit but a syconium. It’s a portion of the stem that expanded into a sac containing flowers that grow internally.”

We have all heard of wasps that lives inside the figs and are consumed by them, right? The explanation is quite simple, “each Ficus species has its own wasp pollinator, while some even have two. Likewise, each fig-wasp species can only lay its eggs in the flowers of its partner figs. This relationship began more than 80 million years ago and has shaped the world ever since. Ficus species must produce figs year-round to ensure their pollinator wasps survive. This is great news for fruit-eating animals that would otherwise struggle to find food for much of the year. Indeed, figs sustain more species of wildlife than any other kinds of fruit.”

There are so much to discover and talk about figs, that we would be here for hours just reading facts about them! I think a post about figs would be interesting, don’t you think?

Moving on to our recipe ,this time, the desire to create a fig tart didn´t leave my mind. So I sat down thinking about what would best combine with figs, and as it´s common knowledge, walnuts match perfectly with figs, and cream cheese is the cherry on the cake. Now based on these 3 main ingredients, my version of the fig tart with cream cheese and walnuts has appeared. A simple and easy-to-make version that does not need ovens or stoves, and of course, it´s VEGAN!