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Last update - 18:00 28/08/2008 Pleasure Hunting / Objects of desire By Ronit Vered Tags: Figs, Israel The Israeli Association of Fig Lovers has about 30 members. Israel Radio?s Amikam Rotman, of Kibbutz Lotem in the Galilee, established the group five years ago. Members travel the world together in a quest for figs - through local orchards, to Izmir in Turkey, and in national parks in Provence. They exchange photos of rare species and examine by microscope the pollination activities of fig wasps. They meet for feasts involving boukha (fig brandy), dried figs redolent of rose water and stuffed with almonds and pine nuts, and other fig delicacies. No fig tree can escape the watchful eyes of this daring bunch. Rumors of newly discovered trees, whether in the orchards of an abandoned Arab village or next to a kibbutz fence, spread like wildfire, and members quickly travel to the site, on foot or by car, to sample the fruits with the seriousness generally reserved for the tasting of expensive wine. It seems that every state between the Mediterranean and New Jersey has its fig freaks, who turn the fruit into their raison d?etre. What is it about the fig that arouses such passion? There are those, like Louis XIV, who find its sweet, fertile taste intoxicating. Others rave about the beauty of the tree, which yields two or three ripe figs per day. And still others mention the fact that in every nation and every language, the fig evokes sexual connotations. And honestly - what crosses your mind when you halve a ripe fig or take a handful of round unripe ones? Not for nothing does the proud owner of a fig tree insist, ?Mine is bigger,? referring to the fruit. Even seemingly innocent descriptions, meant to glorify the Holy Land, take on these connotations - for example, Rabbi Bar Yehezkel, who happened upon Bnei Brak and saw goats eating under fig trees. Sweet juices dripped from the figs, blending with the milk dripping from the goats, creating a juicy scent of lust. Dan Yakir, an engineer and the CEO of a chemical firm, received a fig shoot as a gift more than a decade ago. From that twig, and with the help of farmers, archaeologists and botanists from the association, have sprouted numerous studies of local and global fig species, as well as linguistic-etymological research on their names and origins. Pliny the Elder noted that 24 fig species were known to the ancient world, including two that were brought from Greater Syria to Rome during the reign of Tiberius. Today, over 800 species have been identified. Yakir?s orchard, which spans three acres in Binyamina, has 200 different species of fig, making it one of the largest collections in Israel, and notable on a global scale as well. Advertisement ?An educational collection of Land of Israel figs,? is what Yakir calls his small paradise, a considerable portion of which is devoted to the 50 native species. The number of olive trees that originally grew in his grove is shrinking, and in their place sprout fig trees that carry three or even four different species. The Prophet Mohammed would have liked to take some figs to heaven. We are pickier, and want Persian figs - small, juicy, purple balls with a rich, heavy flavor reminiscent of grapes; the black bursa, the truffle of the fig world - a large purple-black fig worth its weight in gold, grown in Israel by one farmer, Shimon Harosh, who grows them commercially for export; and meaty Italian kadotas, which may also have originated in this region. Each one has a range of flavors. Yakir?s amazing orchard has species from the size of a button to that of a fist, some pear-shaped and some round. The peel comes in a spectrum of colors ranging from green to purple-black, and the spectacular pulp varies in hue from timid pale pink to mighty crimson. The fruits of this consuming hobby don?t serve any commercial goal, but are aimed at the pleasure of family and friends. In the summer, when the fruit ripens, Yakir begins distilling boukha. Fresh figs of various species are fermented with the help of wine yeast for a period of two weeks, after which they undergo double fermentation. Because of the distillation process one can?t always sense the flavor of the fruit in the eau-de-vie, but Yakir?s boukha has a gentle, fruity and aromatic flavor that goes down like silk. Seven species Until Yakir?s great book of figs comes out, you can read about them in a chapter written by him in a new book entitled ?The Land of the Seven Species.? The book contains a wealth of historical, botanical and agricultural information on the fig, pomegranate, olive and the rest of the seven species, along with recipes and recommended hikes in Israel. There is also a glossary. Editor Eliezer Zaks wrote some of the chapters, with experts providing the rest. Like many books that were recently released by small publishing houses, the editing and design are a bit sloppy, but the information is exceptional. ?Eretz Shivat Haminim? by Eliezer Zaks, Ministry of Defense Publishing, NIS 118. On tour with Morris Anyone who has ever tasted the fruits of the Kadita tree, or Morris?s figs in general, speaks with longing of the divine experience. The fruits of this tree, which grow with no irrigation next to Mount Meron, taste unforgettably like honey. The only unfortunate thing is that the skin is too thin to enable transport of the fruit, so the joy of feasting is short and confined to the site itself. Even fruits grown from the shoots planted by the association, which turned into trees in Yakir?s orchards, don?t manage to recreate the unique flavor. ?It doesn?t perform as wonderfully as it does in the Galilee,? Yair admits remorsefully, as though he were discussing the road capabilities of a Jaguar. Morris Zemach, a fantastic tour guide and a member of the association, discovered the tree in abandoned orchards between Meron and Safed. Anyone who wants to taste the fruits of this tree, or the fruits of additional trees in Israel?s many wild orchards, can go on a fig excursion with Morris (052-8499217) Dried figs in Jish A millennia-old tradition continues to this day in Gush Halav ?(Jish?) in the Galilee - drying fresh figs in the sun, on the roofs of homes or on big boulders, in layers that are then preserved in large blocks. These blocks, which used to weigh up to 30 kilograms, were once used for barter. You can?t exchange them for groceries anymore, and their weight has gone down to less than a kilo, but you can still buy them in stores in Jish or in residents? homes. Mahmoud Abbasi offers tours where you can observe the historic tradition and sample the species typical of the Galilee - like the biadi, shahmani or bukrati. Mahmoud Abbasi, Jish, 04-6987779 Rivers of delight The pioneers of producing the Tunisian drink called boukha are members of the Bokobsas family, Tunisian Jews who continue to produce the drink to this day. The boukha is imported to Israel and happily consumed in the small drinking houses of Ashdod, alongside boutargue (salted mullet roe) and other mezze dishes. Moshe Lev, the owner of Boustan Haim, was one of the first boukha producers in the country. When the regulars at Jaffa?s Yoezer Wine Bar walk in and see that ?Moshe Boukha? is there, they know it?s time for an extensive tasting session. We aren?t yet as knowledgeable about the different vintages or varying lengths of fermentation time on which Moshe can hold forth for hours. But the boukha, served just right at Yoezer, at the perfect temperature, is a frozen pleasure that fills the body with rivers of delight. Boustan Haim?s boukha: available at Yoezer Wine Bar, 2 Yoezer Ish Habira St., Jaffa Bookmark to del.icio.us   Voice of peace silenced Israeli peace pioneer Abie Nathan dies aged 81. DeadSeaScrolls.com World's oldest Bible fragments to be available online.

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