While National Fig Week is the first week of November, figs begin their season as a late summer fruit. A good produce department should be full of them right now.

Have you ever tasted a fig at peak ripeness? Whether it’s enjoyed as a hand fruit, served with cheese for dessert, accenting a charcuterie board, a topper to a green salad, salad, churned into ice cream or sliced into breakfast cereal, fresh in season are as good as it gets.

The peak of fresh fig season is just a few short weeks, so grab them when you see them. If your supermarket doesn’t carry fresh figs (ours doesn’t), head to a specialty produce store.

Different varieties of figs mature at different times, so keep checking. California figs are among the best you can buy.

Note that figs have a delicate skin. It may scar or flake a bit in transit, but that’s just part of being picked at peak ripeness, when the fig is most flavorful but also the most fragile.

The different types of figs.
 
 
RECIPE: CHOCOLATE COVERED FIGS WITH SEA SALT

This is an easy recipe. Kids who are old enough to handle hot melted chocolate can make it. Prep time is 20 minutes.

Just as with plain figs, you can serve these with cheese for dessert. Fresh figs pair well with a wide variety of cheeses, from sharp blue cheeses to creamy Brie and Camembert, to tangy goat cheese.
 
Ingredients

Use California figs for the tastiest results.

 
Preparation

1. LINE a baking sheet with parchment paper. Rinse the fresh figs under running water and pat dry with a clean cloth or paper towel.

2. SPRINKLE both the fresh and dried figs with fine sea salt to lightly coat the bottom portion of the fig.

3. PLACE the chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir. Continue to microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each, until the chocolate chips are completely melted.

4. WORKING one fig at a time, hold the fig by stem, dip in melted chocolate 2/3 or 1/2 way up the fig, depending on how much chocolate you want. Sprinkle the chocolate with flaked sea salt.

5. SET the figs on the baking sheet. Let sit until the chocolate hardens. You can also place the tray in the refrigerator to set the chocolate more quickly.

[1] Dip figs in chocolate and add a sprinkle of sea salt. The recipe is below (photos #1 and #2 © California Figs).

[2] A close up. Use both brown and green figs for more visual appeal.

[3] Just picked: brown turkey figs. The brown turkey fig is similar to the more common black mission fig, but is often larger, squatter and more syrupy on the inside (photo © Heather Barns Wesual | Unsplash).