Fig and Olive Tapenade - Family (Tree) Journeys

I love learning about my family history because I truly believe that you cannot know where you are going if you do not know where you have been. I am blessed beyond words to have shared the last 26 years with Dana, a woman of wit and wisdom, and if such a thing could be possible, as much -if not more - inner beauty than outer. Over the course of these years, her family has become mine, and thus her history mine, and certainly our children's.


Dana's family comes just outside of Naples, Italy, and though I plan to tell the story in more depth elsewhere in the blog, I will say that they journeyed from there to Argentina and from there, eventually, to northern New Jersey. Any family journey is filled with character and stories, but this is the story of a fig tree. Apparently, in front of their home in Italy, there grew a fig tree. When Dana's great grandfather left the old country, he was sent with a clipping from this tree to take along. When they migrated to Union City, New Jersey, along came the fig. When their daughters and sons got married, each got a fig tree cutting to bless their new home and so a descendant of the family tree from Naples was planted in Fort Lee, New Jersey. There it grew and flourished, and by the time I encountered it, it was at least 50 years old.


I grew up in Israel with a pomegranate in the front yard. My Aunts had pecan, pomello, orange and guava trees in their back yards. Fresh fruit has always made me feel at home, and so I have been collecting and planting trees for as long as I have had my own home. When Nanna moved into assisted living, I feared that no one would care for the heritage that was this fig tree, and so I began taking clippings of it back with me to Alaska. Year after year I tried, and year after year it died. Finally, about a year before we left Alaska, the cutting took, and shortly thereafter, we became one of the only crazy Alaskans to LEAVE the bush with plants in hand: orange trees, lemon trees, and of course our fig. 


Over the course of the six plus years we have been in KS, the plant has blessed us with tasty little figs. Concentrations of sugar, blessings and memories. When I eat from it, I can't help but think of the journey that this plant has made and how, against all odds it has survived and kept its identity. It's a mirror of our own family story. We move, adapt, aborb, and yet somehow we manage to survive and bear fruit. It warms my heart and makes me smile.


Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped dried figs
• 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 cup chopped kalamata olives
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

Instructions

Combine figs and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, and liquid has reduced. Remove from heat, and stir in the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, thyme, and cayenne. Add olives and garlic, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend. Unwrap the cream cheese block, and place on a serving platter. Spoon the tapenade over the cheese, and sprinkle the top with walnuts. Serve with slices of French bread or crackers. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

To toast walnuts, preheat oven to 350. Place the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned and fragrant.

Recipe Origins
http://www.ou.org/shabbat/recipes/5764/lechlecha64.htm