Large figs of very good taste and flavor,  and like with all sofenos,
touches of acidic raspberry sweetness, much syrupy...a delicious fig.

They started the day very early today with my brown toasts made of country corn bread with hot pork/choriço fat and very cold beer(s)!!, ...back from night jigging...which was not too bad.

enough for a family lunch, grilled on 'cork oak' dry wood fire under the old carob 'al fresco'.
I am sure my cousin Aurora will ask for some of those figs for dessert!!

cheers

Francisco

Very nice Franciso!!!! You're living the dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It just doesn't get better than that! Thank you for the pictures.

Ah, fresh squid & figs. Way to go Francisco --- the good life. We love the way it is done at one of our favourite restaurant. Glad we are going for free lunch today at this place. It is a popular dish(order) at this particular restaurant for deep fried squid in batter.

I havnt eaten squidd long time ago, even uncooked make my mouth water from the possibilities.
garlic?
paparika?
some cherry tomatoes ?
maybe some figs on the side :)
maybe some on the grill with only salt...

i am jealous :) and drooling too at the same time  

Francisco,
hope heaven will be that good.Ciao,
Giuseppe

fresh squid... two words. squid sashimi :) and beautiful figs to clean the palette.

Thank you all for looking at those fine figs and... squids !!

Persian, Yes but I have been living with these scenarios all my life..it's in the blood!

Tami, promise to keep sending more pictures

Paully, not exactly good life !.. to get those squid I had to find and catch them, a sleepless night/morning, but great pleasure ! for deep frying, these are too big ! we do that in olive oil and lots of garlic but with  the baby squid (winter)

Eli, yes all that may go with squid but these were plainly grilled, with a scent of smoke from a piece of green coconut  thick skin, over the glowing embers...never use salt when grilling cephalopoda...all good flavors go!

Giuseppe, Agree..Heaven will have all these and even much better figs!

Pete, Those were ideal for sashimi,..being caught a couple of hours before the picture.. Best indication for non experienced fellows will be  seeing how clean and crystalline the eyes are .
If I could send you a basket of them..?

good appetite

francisco

Thanks for the phenomenal pictures Francisco!  Sooo very appetizing !

Figs look great.  How do you keep the squid from becoming like rubber when you grill them?

Thank you Pattee, Bob,  for comments.

Bob, you are right, a lot of people allow very chewy stuff to land on their plates . They are being tempted by 'rosy´mentions from the menu list for food which is not exactly what the chef says.
As regards to squid, (calamari) I would advise to have them not older than 3 to 4 months which would be approx the ones you saw in the pictures (*)...at that age they are tender and ideal to be cooked.
Bigger/older ones tend to be rubbery, but there are ways to make them much softer ..(the chef should know that).

By the way let me tell you that like the wasp, squid's life cycle is very short and may last  around 10/12 months max, sometimes much less than that.... dying immediately after laying their eggs.

(*) the ones in the pictures (Loligo vulgaris)  had already gone through their sexually active period as they were  showing a well advanced egg mass (a delicacy!!), which indicates that they would be ready for spawning in less than 2 months.

What is said above for squid , is also valid for octopi and cuttlefish

personally i prefer to "poach" the squid. light cooking in boiling water. it's comes out rather tender. serve with a savory sauce. of course, being a born korean, i prefer korean red hot bean paste thinned in vinegar with sugar. gives nice texture along with taste of squid as it should be, enhanded with bit of acid, peppery spiciness, and sweetness. i was told either you eat squid raw, cooked very lightly, or cooked to death so you don't have to chew it :) 

Looking good, I love SQUID.

And my favorite dish is called "kellagüin" or "ceviché": throw in a bunch of lemon and lime, spring onion, chile, cilantro and cal it ohhh so good!

The fig looks yummy too.
Jenny

Jenny, Pete

Thank you very much for comments and useful information on those recipes..will try!

Pete,
Like some figs these mollusks may also be dried;   in the old days they were the poor man's food in winter when stormy weather kept fishermen ashore. Still common in the Far East and I am sure in your native Korea .

Francisco

Pete I love squid as you put it "boiled to death" with some spices use to boil seafood with. Oh so good.

Francisco thank you for some great pictures again.
"gene"

Dad used to dice up the tentacles mix them with Italian seasonings/bread crumbs etc stuff it inside then bake with red sauce and cheese over them.

Still these days....and very popular (stuffed squid)!

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_gYU2r3bMdcM/TMWpbe7-EcI/AAAAAAAACWw/1qbqJlRClIA/s1600/lulas1.jpg

http://ntransfers.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/lulas-cheias.jpg

http://fotos.sapo.pt/nPsK1OJMJLbJHIYz4Jk0/x435

Thanks for those squid pictures !

Francisco,
Excellent photos and descriptions. Is Prato/Claro a common fig?

JD,

Yes it is a Common fig..
The name 'Tres num Prato' , means   <3 figs per plate>
Sofêno Claro is the name on different areas.

Francisco

Mmm sort of a cannelloni. What better thing to do with a hollow tube than stuff it.

Francisco,

The graft of Bomfim (Sofeno Claro) that i have done in May of 2015 has developed nicely and it has 2 branches full of figs with a curious elongated shape.

Some of these figs probably were visited by the wasps of the caprifigs you sent me, but some were not (they were too small at the time). I'm curious to see the differences between the caprified and the non caprified ones (they all should develop as i remember you mentioning this fig is a Common and doesn't need the wasp)

I also remember that you mentioned in another thread that Sofeno Claro was also a synonym to Três num Prato. I have Três num Prato in a pot from another source and the leaves seem different (no figs to compare though, maybe next year)

I can't wait for them to ripen. When is the usual maturity date for this fig in Algarve?

Some photos...

       

Hi Jaime,
Sofeno claro ripens  approx same time as Lampeira Preta main crop,... by early September on my area.

Francisco
Portugal

Francisco, I have to be careful every time I read one of your posts...I drool!

I am sure everyone would like to come over to your place for lunch right now.  Enjoy!

Thanks, Francisco.

That probably means that over here i probably will have to wait a bit longer.
I hope they resist some rain (usual over here in September) or else i won't be able to taste them unless i arrange some kind of rain protection.