Hardiness: Hardy to the Seattle Area Zone 7B. Grown Outdoors
Type: Bifere
Fruit Ripens: July and September
Fruit Color: Greenish Yellow with Yellowish Interior
Taste: When perfectly ripe it's like a mild almond joy candie bar
Fruit Weight: 50grams
Leaf Structure: 5 squat lobes
Note: super easy to root. Takes about 1 to 2 weeks to see roots
The Croisic or Gillette fig is a Caprifig having male flowers and may have some pollen. It produces a heavy crop of medium to large green figs which ripen to greenish yellow or yellow with a good quality, sweet, clear flesh. A vigorous, productive and moderately cold hardy tree that is a good choice for the Northwestern US. Late season ripening.
It is interesting to note that the majority of the literature we have on this fig denote the quality of the figs as being very good and very sweet, whereas Dr. Ira Condit mentions in his "Figs - A Monograph" that the pulp is "insipid, lacking in sugar". Croisic was apparently sold as Gillette after the Gillett Nursery in Nevada City, California and has been grown in Oregon and Washington since the 1930's.
The Croisic or Gillette fig is also known by the names Cordelia , Pingo de Mel, and St. John according to Dr. Ira Condit.
My Personal Opinion:
After tasting these right off the tree at various stage of ripens, I find that it goes through a couple of flavor profiles. To achieve maximum sweetness you have to let this wilt on the branch. The taste is mild just not too sweet. It has a fluffy thick skin which gives it a bland but marshmallow texture. If you pick anytime before prime ripeness do not expect any sweetness from it, but when ripe it has a coconut and nutty taste to it. It's almost insipid if you do not let it ripen completely.
I've recently acquired one of these Gillete figs. People are saying that it requires pollination by the Fig Wasp in order for the fruit to fully ripen. "My understanding is that caprifigs will set fruit but if they aren't pollinated by the wasp, the fruit fall off." Did you find this was the case with your figs?
ReplyDeleteGillette is actually a capri fig, it is used to pollinate smyrna figs (if you have the wasp) It's a one of the few capri figs that are edible
DeleteWe've grown Gillette for 20 years near Poulsbo. It sets fruit very year just fine with no pollinizer.
ReplyDelete