A mixture of 100 g of figs, 100 g of raisins, 1 teaspoon of ground ginger or 0.5 teaspoon of ground nutmeg is ground and mixed. Roll a sausage from the resulting mass and cut it into 1 cm circles. Store in a tightly closed jar. Eat 1 or more slices per day.
Queen's Cough Remedy
It was cooked by the cook of Henrietta Maria, Queen of England in 1655. The recipe is taken from the collection “Queen's Open Chest”, published back in the 17th century.
“Take a handful of hyssop officinalis (you can take dry thyme). Figs, raisins, each ounce (28.3 g), ounce of French barley (barley), boil in three pints (pint - 0.5 l) of fresh water, strain and lighten with two egg whites, then add 2 pounds (pound - 453.6 g) of sugar and cook until you get syrup. ”
Protein purification is not necessary at all. This procedure was done for her majesty solely for aesthetic purposes. After all, the medicine was given to the queen, so it should have been beautiful.
There is a second way to make syrup:
Finely chop 8 pieces of figs and add 250 g of water. Then cook for 20 minutes. After the berries, remove, and pour into the broth as much water as there was at the beginning of cooking. Pour a glass of sugar (it is better if you find brown, brown), cook, stirring, until sugar is completely dissolved. Then put the ginger (1 teaspoon of ground), pour the juice of half a lemon, mix and pour into a clean jar.
Cough syrup is taken in 3-4 dessert spoons daily by adults and 1-2 dessert spoons in children.
Figs - savior of the elderly, treats all diseases of old age
This honey-sweet fruit, known as a remedy since biblical times, is literally overflowing with valuable substances. Among the effective components of figs are enzymes that stimulate digestion, antibacterials, fiber and a balanced combination of 11 vitamins, 14 minerals and 14 amino acids involved in the construction of the protein. There is so much potassium in figs that it is second only to nuts. But potassium is vital to our nervous and cardiovascular systems. In addition, figs surpass the apple in the amount of iron, the most famous glandular fruit. The uniqueness of figs is also in the fact that the soluble fibers of its fiber contain substances that lower blood cholesterol.
It is enough to eat one fig fruit weighing only 15 g to dull the feeling of hunger. At the same time, the fig strengthens the nerves, fills the brain with life-giving force, prevents constipation, relieves fatigue, improves performance, improves mood.
The great physician of antiquity Avicenna considered figs a product for the elderly, because he treats all diseases of old age.
In official medicine, fig fruits are used in the treatment of the following diseases:
- thromboembolism,
- thrombophlebitis,
- diseases of the cardiovascular system.
In folk medicine, figs are used to treat diseases of the upper respiratory tract: tracheitis, laryngitis, bronchitis, bronchiectatic disease. With chronic cough, figs can be used in our time. The plant exhibits an expectorant effect for colds, alleviates severe conditions with tracheitis, bronchitis and laryngitis. Decoctions, preserves, boiled figs in milk have a diaphoretic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory effect.
Figs are attributed the ability to counteract neoplasms. Acting as a disinfectant, it destroys intestinal parasites.
Fresh fruits reduce blood sugar and also have a good diaphoretic and antipyretic effect. It is probably this information that led our reader astray about the benefits of figs in diabetes. However, not in all cases, figs can be used as a medicine or a delicacy.
Due to the iron contained in figs, it is highly recommended for anemic patients. Women during menstruation should eat 3 fig fruits daily to maintain a normal balance of chemical elements in the body.
So, for those who are diabetic and overweight, figs are contraindicated. And here there can be no two opinions. Figs can also hurt stomach ulcers and the duodenal ulcer. Those suffering from these ailments need to be very careful about consuming fig fruits, no more than two or three at a time.
- Fig fruits should not be consumed in diabetes.
- Fig fruits are contraindicated in gout due to the large amount of oxalic acid contained in it.
- In acute inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, figs should not be consumed due to the large amount of fiber found in it.
Recipes for the use of figs in traditional medicine
As already mentioned, fig fruits are extremely nutritious, easily digestible. Syrup made from figs can cure many pulmonary diseases. Here are some folk recipes with figs:
- To quickly heal the skin with burns, use gruel from fresh or dried figs.
- Outwardly, a decoction of figs is used in the form of poultices or compresses for fluxes, abscesses, and fresh leaves of figs attached to boils contribute to their rapid maturation. Creams and ointments, prepared on the basis of fresh fig leaves, will help get rid of itchy skin. And the fresh juice of these leaves, like milk from unripe fruits, can reduce warts. Information about this can be found, for example, in oriental treatises: "unripe figs are spread and applied in the form of a medicinal dressing on birthmarks, all kinds of warts." There is evidence that squeezed leaf juice supposedly erases traces of a tattoo.
- Oriental healers also claimed that “the milky juice of figs with honey helps with wet shroud, with the onset of cataracts, with thickening of the eyelids and thickening of the membranes of the eye. Leaves of figs are rubbed during hardening of the eyelids and trachoma. " But it is hardly worth the risk, trying to get rid of cataracts in this way.
- Fresh fig fruits are recommended for emaciated, weakened, or severely ill patients.
- Sun-dried and fresh figs are also used for epilepsy.
- Fig's milky juice drives sand out of the kidneys.
- In the East, these fruits are very successfully treated and toothache. She is calmed by rubbing the flesh of fresh figs into the gums.
- Official medicine has long recognized figs as a therapeutic and prophylactic agent for many diseases. The fruits of a delicious and healthy fruit are used in the treatment of obstruction of the pulmonary artery, vein thrombosis, to restore the cardiovascular system. The diuretic properties of figs allow its use in diseases of the kidneys, hypertension.
- Decoction of fig fruits: 2 tablespoons of dried figs are boiled in 1 cup of milk until softened. Take the drug 100 g 2-3 times a day. Such a medicine is recommended for gastritis, for gargling, externally in the form of poultices with acute inflammatory formation in the periosteum or connective tissue, abscesses, boils.
- You can get rid of warts and birthmarks by applying mashed unripe fruits to the skin.
- The ash of fig wood is infused with water and lotions are made with this liquid for inflammation of the nerve. Fig leaves help with hardening of the eyelids and thickening of the membranes of the eyes. The resulting milky juice from figs is used to treat the initial stage of cataracts, and to remove wet shroud.
Vitamins and trace elements that make up the figs contribute to the production of serotonin - a substance that improves mood and improves well-being. Folic acid is useful for pregnant women, because it is involved in blood-forming processes and supports the immune system. Figs are considered the fruit that is richest in phosphorus, potassium, calcium, iron, sodium and fiber. Figs - a leader in the content of minerals, so necessary in the treatment and prevention of heart disease and blood vessels. Calcium has beneficial effects on bones and joints. Thanks to fiber, the body easily fights cholesterol, gets rid of toxins and toxins. Delicious jams, marshmallows, sweets, compotes, wine, vinegar are prepared from fig fruits.
Fig fruits are good for both adults and children. If you need to get rid of boils and lichens, urticaria and ulcers, fresh leaves must be applied to the affected area of the skin. The use of fresh fruits is recommended for weakened people who have suffered any disease. Figs can be dried, and in this or fresh form, it is useful in epilepsy. Fruit juice helps to remove sand from the kidneys, heal wounds.
Fig leaves
Many today eat the fruits of this tree, but knowing the strength of the leaves, they can be used to treat many ailments. Fig leaves are also edible, they help with diabetes, are effective in lowering triglycerides. Fig leaves are a popular natural remedy for stomach ulcers. A decoction of dry fig leaves is drunk with enterocolitis, dysentery, colitis.
Infusion of fig leaves: 1 tablespoon of dry chopped leaves should be poured with a glass of boiling water, infused for 1 hour and taken in 1/3 or 1/2 cup 2-3 times a day. You can make an infusion of fruit in milk.
Fresh fig leaves are used for the rapid maturation of boils. Decoctions of leaves treat cough, bronchial asthma, kidneys.
The use of fig fruits in cooking
Anyone who has the opportunity to often eat figs knows that this is one of the best suppliers of energy for our body, he is able to quickly restore strength, remove mental and physical fatigue.
It is noteworthy that the finer the fruits, the more delicious the figs. The best figs are considered light yellow. Of course, dark red and purple figs are also good (although in the East they are not in special demand). Another interesting point: if there are more than 900 seeds in each gram, this is a very good, delicate fig. If less than 500 - very mediocre.
Since ancient times, figs have been used to make jam, pastille, jelly, jam and even wine. In Central Asia, dushab is made from fig fruits - a condensed fig juice that is well stored and used for various culinary purposes. If fresh fig fruits contain about 1% protein, 15–23% sugar, then in the drying process, the proportion of protein increases to 3–6%, and sugar to 40–70%.
For drying, light, with a golden skin and white pulp, about 5 cm in diameter, is more suitable. The fruit seeds are dried for 3-4 days under the sun, always a hole on the top of the fig up. Let's look at the fruits, the very small seeds that are inside the wine berry, and the shell of the berry is an overgrown receptacle. The smaller the fruits, the more delicious the figs. If there are more than 900 seeds in each gram - a very good, delicate fig. If less than 500 - very mediocre. There is also a seedless variety that does not need pollination with the help of wasp-babies, but its fruitfulness is not so tasty and juicy.
Figs, like dates, coconuts and bananas, are sacred food. This fruit can be eaten both fresh and dried. Typically, figs are harvested when it falls from a branch to the ground, and is either eaten immediately or dried.
How much and how to eat right?
Figs should be fresh and fully ripe - only in this case it will benefit health.
The skin color of the “right” ripe figs, depending on the variety, is purple, burgundy, yellowish, etc. The flesh of fresh figs is tender, jelly-like, the smell is pleasant, without acid.
If the fig smells sour, you don’t need to eat it - the fruit has spoiled.
Rules for consuming fresh figs:
- before eating, wash the fruits thoroughly, but carefully,
- peeling is not necessary, you can eat with it,
- if you don’t like the peel, the fig is cut in half and only the flesh is eaten,
- figs can be given to a child by scooping up the pulp with a teaspoon.
Before serving, figs are beautifully cut into slices, pour over yogurt, sprinkle with nuts. The culinary use of fig is not limited to desserts.
These fruits go well with meat., and you can use them to stuff duck or turkey, to prepare Mediterranean salads with mozzarella, asparagus, sweet pepper, pomegranate, nuts.
Figs - a fruit with many advantages. It is nutritious and useful, has a number of medicinal properties, rarely causes allergies and has almost no contraindications.
Using figs in cooking allows you to diversify the menu and add a spicy oriental touch to it.
