STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As the sun set and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge twinkled in the background, revelers gravitated to the National Lighthouse Museum in St. George like bees on a fig -- socially distanced, of course. The 10th annual Fig Fest kicked off as it usually does on Sept. 15 but, this year, with just 19 masked guests in attendance. And with the indoor dining ban still in effect, a fig-and-wine pairing took place outdoors -- all in praise of ficus.
Judy Hearne and Glen Mancuso. Pamela SilvestriPamela Silvestri
Call it a COVID-19 recovery moment to remember with five wines to be paired with fig-focused foods starting with a #Bae Reisling from Washingtonville, N.Y. offered with the whole fig itself. That batch of fruit were Brown Turkey specimens from the Westerleigh garden of Shelly and Tony Toth.
The next round of vittles and California vino saw prosciutto bread from Moretti’s Bakery with Shelly Toth’s apple-forward fig jam. That followed with fig and caramelized onion pizza from Pier 76 in St. George, sliced fresh figs with gorgonzola cream and speck coddled in puff pastry from Vinum in Stapleton.
For sweets, walnut and chocolate fig donuts from Mark’s Bake Shop made the finish to the feast.
Fig donuts with walnuts and chocolate from Mark's Bake Shoppe. (Pamela Silvestri)Pamela Silvestri
The latter is available for $2.75 from the Richmond bakery with a dollar kicked back to the museum, an arrangement good through Saturday, Sept. 19 with every purchase.
Fresh Fig on Cannoli Cream and Cream Pillow with a macron from Bruno's NYC Bakery at Fig Fest 2020. (Pamela Silvestri)Pamela Silvestri
Another showstopper among the food and wine flights included a parfait built on cannoli cream with a sliced black fig and green macaron as the ficus-point.
Fig Fest 2020
The concoction was crafted by master baker Biagio Settepani, who served as one of the guest speakers of the evening. He chatted about fig flavors and wine affinities with Massimo Felici, chef and owner of Vinum, The Richmond and the restaurant at Casa Belvedere.
The chefs offered a cooking demo from their restaurants.
Food was served in disposable cups and portioned out for a grab-and-go format as pairings were explained.
Museum director Linda Dianto, one of the hosts of the evening, said, “The National Lighthouse Museum was honored to once again host the annual Fig Fest. Amazingly, the ‘Fig Team’ was able to pivot in this new environment and introduce a blended program of virtual and live experiences! It was truly a “fig-a-licious” night of celebrating the historic life of the fig!”
- Fig Fest 2020 happened at the National Lighthouse Museum on Sept. 15. (Pamela Silvestri)Pamela Silvestri
The event was broadcast in a Zoom that had tech difficulties. But some of the virtual guests' presentations were uploaded to YouTube. In the live presentation, Eltingville fig farmer Peter Cundari spoke of wrapping versus not wrapping the trees and putting the plants “to sleep” for winter. Tottenville fig cultivator Danny Gentile spoke of the ficus life. Sometimes referred to as the “Tree Whisperer,” Gentile taps maple trees and sells bourbon-infused, New York State syrup through his website, FigBid. He coached the audience on how to tell the species of fig plant by a tree’s finger-shaped leaves.
Can you tell the species of ficus from a fig leaf? Yes, you can. (Pamela Silvestri)Pamela Silvestri
Fig authority aka “Fig Boss” Ross Raddi said via video to the “crowd”: “Figs are basically jam on a tree.” Raddi is a YouTuber who grows “food they say you can’t.” He maintains, “You can grow anything you want. Anywhere.” That includes growing the ficus, a relation of the mulberry tree, in colder regions like Pennsylvania. His instructional videos also speak of fig flavors and wide variety of colored flesh.
Jamie Dougherty, also a renowned fig grower, came to Fig Fest 2016 on Staten Island. She lauded the fig community of people she’s met over the years, including Peter Cundari. She also finds great fellow figgers on various fig threads including the Our Figs Forum. In that first year Dougherty rooted 187 cuttings, the first winter she started the hobby.
After the instructional videos and live presentation, guests enjoyed fig noshes.
Fig Fest 2020
And the winner of the gender neutral Fig Fest title of “Fig King” is the Toth family. Shelly and Tony Toth of Westerleigh donated about two dozen Brown Turkey figs from their bumper crop. They receive a fig-friendly bottle of wine plus the privilege of earning the 2020 “Fig King” title.
- Tony and Sally Toth of Westerleigh have an impressive Brown Turkey ficus. They are the 2020 "Fig King" winners. (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)Pamela Silvestri
Additional chatter on the wine subject was provided by Susan Ziegler of Honor Wines in Stapleton, the shop from which some wines were purchased for the festival.
Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com.
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S.I. Nightlife: Fig Fest 2020 returns with real-life mingling and celeb ficus experts - SILive.com
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