Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Product Review: Dalmatia Orange Fig Spread

I originally bought this hoping that it would offset the flavor of Limburger cheese.[1] It did not. Fortunately I was not limited to that one purpose. Before going to México on an LDS mission [2], the only experience I had with figs was Fig Newtons. But the part of México I served in (the states of Coahuila and Nuevo León) had the right climate for figs, so at some point in history they were introduced. There really is nothing like eating fresh figs right off the tree, the wasp eggs notwithstanding.[3]


My verdict: I liked the interplay between the flavor of the fig and the orange. But my experience has been that orange marmelades are always too thick and the orange rinds a little too prominent (making them a little bitter). This orange fig spread was no different. But the most off-putting thing about this product was really just the price. It wasn't delicious enough to merit its price tag. I'd still rather have fresh figs.


Notes:

[1] You can read my review here.

[2] For those who are unsure why Latter-day Saints (Mormons) go on missions, I recommend you visit here and here, where you can learn more about LDS beliefs concerning sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have more questions, ask and maybe I'll do a full post on the topic.

[3] Figs (genus Ficus) are pollinated by extremely tiny wasps called fig wasps. When the female wasp enters the fig to lay its eggs, it encounters three types of flowers: male flowers, short female flowers, and long female flowers. She picks up pollen from the male flowers in the fig she was born in and deposits it in the long female flowers of the fig she invades. She lays her eggs in the short female flowers which are specifically developed for this symbiosis—they are incapable of producing a seed. Then she dies and she is actually consumed by the fig plant. This symbiosis is highly specific: any given species of fig (there are about 450) has its own particular species of fig wasp that it requires for pollination—any other fig wasp just won't do. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig wasp. Leann's siblings convinced her as a child the popping crunch fig newtons make was from the wasp eggs. But she now knows that the eggs are much too small to detect.

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