[Photograph: Gudlyf on Flickr]

Certainly an international fruit, figs are cultivated in many parts of the world, from Iran and India, to some of the warmer areas over here in the United States. And as diverse as their growing areas are the ways to eat them. They can be prepared in a ton of different ways: cut them up and eat them fresh, or dried for a healthy snack; you can't go wrong with turning them into a jam or jelly, either. Besides being gorged on by humans, figs were also used to fatten geese back in Roman days, for the production of a precursor to foie gras. However, at this point they're probably sitting in your kitchen—waiting to be used in one of these figgy recipes.

Fig Recipes

• Black Pepper Panna Cotta with Figs
• Bay-Scented Chicken with Figs
• Warm Fig, Mozzarella, and Prosciutto Sandwich
• Fig and Honey Cream Galette

How do you eat your figs?