June figs and how to use them

• By Matty Cremona

June brings with it the first crop of figs. These come from the tree that produces the variety called bajtar ta’ San Ġwann, or St John’s figs, so called because they ripen around that saint’s day. The same tree produces another crop of figs in late summer, but they are smaller. In July, the fig variety called farkizzan bears its fruit. These are small and dark purple, and much drier than the June figs. Between mid-August and early October, the fig tree varieties called parsott iswed and parsott abjad bear fruit (the only varieties grown in Malta that do not require fertilisation by a male tree). Tin iswed, the very small figs that are almost black, and their smaller and paler counterparts, tin abjad, are by far the most abundant fig crop. They are extremely sweet.