Why are DOP White Dottato Figs so Special?

There are over 600 Italian fig varieties, but one outshines them all: White Dottato Figs. They get their name for their pale, delicate skin that just melts away on your tongue. With their dense fruity pulp just scarcely flecked with seeds, and their ambrosial, honey scent, these figs are an Italian favorite:

This fig is number one in Italy. It has a higher percentage of natural sugars and the seeds are so small that you don’t even notice them when chewing. These are some of the characteristics that make White Dottato Figs from Cilento unique and different from other figs around the world. – Antonio Longo, Santomiele

These particular figs are so unique they’ve earned legal protection from the European Union. Since 2003, “White Figs of Cilento” have D.O.P, or Protected Designation of Origin, status. That means a fig has to meet strict requirements to be sold under this name!

What are DOP White Dottato Figs?

First of all, these specific figs come from a particular variety, the Dottato cultivar, which must grow in a defined area of southern Campania, Cilento. Fig trees have grown here for millennia and define the landscape to this day. This whole area nestled between the mountains and the sea is absolutely covered with White Dottato Fig trees. 

The mitigative effect of the sea and of the Appenine mountains, the latter acting as a barrier against the cold winter winds to the north-east, along with good soil fertility and optimal rainfall patterns have meant the remarkable spread of the crop in Cilento. Figs have significantly characterized the countryside in this area since the times of the Roman Empire. Figs define the landscape in here. – EU Geographical Indications Register

Originally brought to the area as early as 600 BCE, people in Cilento have been growing, preserving, eating, and exporting these precious figs for many centuries. Legend has it that people in Cilento have an extra long lifespan thanks to all the dried figs they eat!

Traditional White Dottato Figs from Cilento

White Fig Jam from Maida Farm

Farmer Franco Vastola grows his own White Dottato Figs on his farm and transforms them into his cult-favorite White Fig Jam. Following his nonna’s recipe, Franco adds nothing but sugar and lemon juice to make this luscious conserva with whole chunks of figs swimming in a syrupy, honey-like jam.

Dried Fig Packets from Santomiele

Traditional, beautiful, and luxurious, Santomiele’s fig packets are positively transcendent. Dried White Dottato figs stuffed with almonds, raisins, candied orange and lemon peel, soaked in rum and fig molasses, and then carefully wrapped in fig leaves. Here’s Antonio explaining why he loves White Dottato Figs so much!