My name is Demetri and I’m a figtarian

Syka is the Greek word for fig. And just this week the figs are getting to the grocery stores and better yet, the fruit stands. Yesterday I drove with Papou to Markoupoulo, a town near the Athens airport where most of the figs come from. (First we went to a farmers market on the way to get olive oil, homemade pasta and nuts — I found a Costco-sized bag of cashews for half the Costco price!) Papou likes one particular Syka man on a road outside of town next to a a temple dedicated to Artemis. They spent a minute negotiating and guessing each other’s ages and then we bought a case of green royal beauties. They are sweet, bright red and incredibly delicious. He threw in a couple of black ones saying they’re better than the green ones and that I’ll come back next week asking for only black.  Demetri says he’s going to eat only figs in August, so this case should last us through tomorrow.  Along with fig season comes grape season, and the peaches will be good for another month, much to my delight. And the karpuzi — watermelon — is in season through September.