Santomiele dried figs are an Italian holiday favorite with a cult following. These dainty packets, called fagottini, are the traditional way of preserving figs in Cilento, the National Park south of Naples, where the Mediterranean Diet was discovered.
They taste like dappled sunshine on the palate, to use the words written by Paul Greenberg in Departures about these fabled fig bundles.
The most prized White Dottato Figs are picked by hand at peak of ripeness. They’re dried in the summer sun slowly and gently, to reach a caramelly flavor and velvety texture that are well worth the wait.
Once sun-dried, the figs pass on to the expert hands of Signora Rosetta. Each dried fig is sliced in half and stuffed with a roasted Sicilian almond. Then, Rosetta dips them one by one in fig molasses with a splash of rum, to make the wrinkly fruit soak up more fig essence. Finally, she wraps them in fig leaves, adding some candied oranges and raisins to the mix.
Santomiele sends us our stash right at the beginning of fall, after the harvest, and that’s all we have for the rest of the year. Rustic yet very chic, they are great as a placeholder (inspired by Martha Stewart), as a unique gift, to elevate a cheese or salumi spread, on top of ice cream, or just for the table to nibble before dessert.