September is traditionally the month in which figs are harvested in Italy, although the harvest can vary widely depending on the fig variety and it is possible from July to October. The fig is absolutely not just an Italian specialty. It’s in fact native to Asia Minor, and as various Egyptian documents attest, its cultivation is very ancient. According to some scholars, it was the Phoenicians who spread it in the Mediterranean and across the Channel. In Italy it has been cultivated since at least the 8th century BC, and especially in the South of Italy the cultivation of figs has for centuries had a fundamental function in supporting the poorest families and the agricultural economy of the area.
There are many varieties of fig plants that have existed over the centuries in Italy. In the Renaissance period there were even around 500 of them, but today of all that enormous variety there are only a few dozen for each region. Certainly, its success can be attributed to various factors such as the marked adaptability of the plant to any soil, the shortness of the fruiting times, the modest water requirement but, above all, the delicacy of the fruit and the numerous nutritional properties. If fresh figs, in fact, were a summer delight, dried ones brought to the winter diet a caloric content that was difficult to find in those years in the poor peasant cuisine.
Having a thousand-year tradition, it’s not difficult to imagine how the fig is widely used in Italian cuisine. In addition to being an inevitable fresh fruit at the end of summer to be enjoyed in all its goodness, it is used to make cookies, cakes, paired with cheeses or prosciutto crudo, or even as a filling for roasts. There are many recipes and traditions, but here I want to talk to you about one in particular, a typical Calabrian recipe that combines figs and walnuts! I’m talking about Calabrian crucette, an ancient recipe that is handed down in families from generation to generation, and included by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies in the list of Traditional Agri-food Products of the region (PAT in Italian).
Their name is due to the type of workmanship with which they’re made: in the shape of a small cross. Crucette (or “crocette” in Italian, which means “little cross”) are nothing more than figs dried in the sun and then usually filled with walnuts, but any type of dried fruit can be used, such as hazelnuts or almonds. The preparation of “stuffed figs” was already known in ancient Rome, but was revived in the Middle Ages where, probably thanks to the creativity of some nuns, they took the shape of a Christian cross, obtained by crossing and overlapping four dried figs opened in half.
The origin of crucette is impossible to find, but there’s no shortage of legends. One of these narrates that Mary, Joseph and the little Jesus, still in swaddling clothes, while they were fleeing from Egypt due to the harsh laws of King Herod who had ordered a massacre of children, took refuge under a fig tree to find shelter for the night. As soon as the tree welcomed the holy family under its leaves, it extended its branches and spread its leaves to protect them, making them “invisible” in the eyes of the evil king and his soldiers. At the first light of day, the Vergin Mary came out of her hiding place and turning to the fig tree, to thank it, she said: «May you be blessed, O fig tree. Twice a year you will carry the sweetest fruits on Earth>>. In memory of this legend, that’s why the Calabrians dry figs in the sun and eat them at Christmas in the form of crosses, to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Legend aside, what is certain is that Calabria is a land rich in fig trees. The presence of the fig was so important that, in the last century, Calabria could boast an incredible production. Between 1930 and 1950, Cosenza and its province produced 100,000 quintals of figs, most of which were intended for export; years in which it was easy to come across the famous “figs of Cosenza” in Parisian shops. The countryside then became depopulated and fig cultivation gradually decreased, but was never completely lost. In fact, those who remained to cultivate the land not only contributed to the spread of the plant but favored the presence of an economic activity strongly linked to the transformation of the product, with the drying and production of desserts such as crucette, figs covered in chocolate, fig and almond salami, baked figs.
But let’s get back to the crucette. Curious to know how to make them?
Crucette’s preparation is simple, and both adults and children in the family can collaborate to make them. The figs must be dried and left to dry in the sun on both sides (in Calabria reed racks are used, the so-called “cannizzi”), so as to allow all the humidity present inside the fruit to go out, which thus makes the fruit storable all year round. Once dehydrated, with a lot of patience and after selecting the largest figs, you need to divide them, one at a time, in half. The fig is then filled (usually) with a walnut kernel and with the addition of a small piece of cedar or lemon peel; then another fig is placed on top of it, pressing it manually. At this point two more figs are overlapped on the first two, in such a way as to form a small cross.
The crucette, thus prepared, are baked with lemon leaves at 180° for 10-15 minutes, until they obtain a golden color. Et voilà, crucette ready. Once baked, they can also be stored in glass jars. In Calabria there are those who add, to flavor them a little, bay leaves or mandarin or orange peel, or perhaps a sprinkling of cinnamon and a little sambuca liqueur. Italians… an alcoholic touch is never missing!
