The fig roll or fig bar is a biscuit or cookie consisting of a rolled cake or pastry filled with fig paste.

History

Figs have been a popular food since ancient times, originating in the areas of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. Early

Egyptians Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to Geography of Egypt, geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretchi ...

may have invented the first fig roll—a simple pastry made with fig paste and a flour-based dough. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the arab physician Ibn Butlan is recorded to have recommended eating figs with biscuits, or sugared bread—an early instance of what could be considered a fig roll. Fig rolls were popular with

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

immigrants in the United States in the late 19th century.

Fig Newtons

Fig Newtons are a popular mass-produced cookie similar to a fig roll. In 1892 James Henry Mitchell, a Florida engineer and inventor, received a patent for a machine that could produce a hollow tube of cookie dough and simultaneously fill it with jam. The machine consisted of two funnels, one inside the other, with the outer funnel creating the dough tube and the inner funnel filling that tube with fig jam. At the same time,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

baker and fig lover Charles Roser was developing a recipe for a pastry based on the British homemade fig roll. Roser approached the Cambridgeport, Massachusetts–based Kennedy Biscuit Company, who agreed to take on production and sales. Kennedy Biscuit Company had recently become associated with the New York Biscuit Company, and after merger to form

Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco' ...

, trademarked the product as the Fig Newton. The cookie was named after the Massachusetts town of Newton. It was one of the first commercially-produced baked goods in the United States.

Footnotes and references

External links

21st Century Fig Festival - a comparison of fig rolls

Felicity Cloake: How to make the perfect fig rolls
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fig Roll Arab pastries British cuisine Egyptian cuisine Turkish cuisine Cypriot cuisine Syrian cuisine Lebanese cuisine Israeli pastries Cuisine of Northern Cyprus Pastries Snack foods Fig dishes

History

Fig Newtons

See also

Footnotes and references

External links