Figuratively speaking

Recently a food columnist for a St. Louis newspaper wrote an article with the headline, "Here's Why I May Never Eat Another Fig Again." Like any good headline, this one caught my attention, especially since I like figs, which are in season until the end of this month and, of course, available dried year-round.

It turns out that a fig has many unique features, being essentially, as food scientist Harold McGee explains, an inverted version of the strawberry, with flowers on the inside, making pollination challenging. Happily, a minute insect, the fig wasp, can do the job and likewise depends on the fig for its propagation.

There are some 900 species of fig wasps who service the 900 species of figs by entering the fruit (technically more flower than fruit) through a hole so small they lose their wings and antennae in the process. None of them gets out alive, nor do all the wasps that develop inside the plant as a result of fertilization of the eggs laid there by the female wasps.

Without going further into the lurid details, suffice it to say if you eat a fig, it's possible you are also ingesting an insect corpse. This is what the St. Louis food writer found so off-putting, and so have lots of others who have written articles and chimed in on the Internet about this, to use their word, "icky" situation. Thus, a few years ago an article in Woman's Day (I am not embarrassed to be a subscriber) proclaimed wasps are "the secret ingredient in every fig that will make your stomach churn."

But before we swear off figs, believed to be the first cultivated fruit and the one most often mentioned in the Bible, let's get some perspective. First, a fig wasp is pretty small, about the size of a gnat. Second, an enzyme in the fig digests the wasp anyway, actually adding to the flavor. So technically you're not really eating a wasp. Third, crops completely free of bugs probably have pesticides in them, which are dangerous and don't even provide any extra protein. Fourth, many types of figs don't require wasps for pollination and it's likely that the figs you buy at the grocery store have never been defiled by a wasp and, thus, do not contain even one.

Figs, too beautiful and delicious to be avoided just because a tiny wasp plays an integral role in their development.Submitted by Tom Harte

And finally, if you object to insects in food, you might want to check out the FDA's Food Defect Levels Handbook. It sets forth maximum levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods that present no health hazard to humans. In it you'll find standards for mold, mites, maggots, rodent hair, rodent feces, and, yes, insects. For example, the standards allow for up to 400 insect fragments per 50 grams of cinnamon and as many as 1250 insect parts in just 10 grams of ground oregano. By comparison, and I'm not trying to put a fig leaf on it, figs sound pure and unadulterated to me.

Upside Down Chocolate Fig Cake

Adapted from Daniela Gerson's website, wavesinthekitchen.com, this recipe calls for no insects of any kind.

• 1 cup brandy or rum
• 2 cups dried figs
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
• 1 egg
• 14 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Cover figs and raisins with liquor and let stand 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving liquor. Sprinkle 1 cup sugar over bottom of a saucepan over medium heat allowing it to melt, stirring occasionally, until an amber colored liquid. Add 1/3 cup of strained liquor and carefully whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in 6 tablespoons butter and 1 teaspoon salt. Pour into 9-inch springform pan, halve figs and arrange with raisins on top. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Melt remaining 8 tablespoons of the butter and whisk together with remaining 3/4 cup sugar and the egg until pale. Whisk in 1/2 cup strained liquor, vanilla, and flour mixture. Pour into pan, smoothing top, and bake at 350 degrees 40-45 minutes until cake tests clean. Cool slightly, run a knife around sides of cake pan, and invert. Serve warm.