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The fig roll or fig bar is a cookie or biscuit consisting of a rolled cake or pastry filled with fig paste.
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. At the same time, Philadelphia baker and fig lover Charles Roser was developing a recipe for a pastry based on the homemade fig roll likely brought to the US by immigrants from Britain. 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, trade marked the product as the Fig Newton.
Now a trademarked product of Nabisco, the unusual shape of Fig Newtons is a characteristic that has been adopted by many competitors, such as the generic fig bars sold by most supermarkets, and Newman's Own Fig Newmans (an
21st Century Fig Festival - a comparison of fig rolls
Felicity Cloake: How to make the perfect fig rolls
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fig Roll Arab cuisine Egyptian cuisine Turkish cuisine Cypriot cuisine Syrian cuisine Lebanese cuisine Levantine cuisine Israeli cuisine Turkish Cypriot cuisine Pastries Snack foods Fig dishes
History
Figs are a popularsnack food
A snack is a small portion of food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home.
Traditionally, snack ...
in most of the world. Originating in northern Asia Minor, traded by the sailors and explorers of the region, they became popular in the Southern and hence hotter parts of the Mediterranean..
As baking
Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferred " ...
developed, the ability to effectively store foods stuffs and increasing their duration as longer distances were travelled.
Figs were highly traded and fought over during the development of the great trade routes during the 15th to 17th centuries. Christopher Columbus devoted a complete page to what a wonderful time it would be when he would be able to gorge himself on figs in the orient, while Marco Polo
Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
described women in association with the beauty of figs. It was also during this period that figs reached America, when the Spanish reached the island of Hispaniola
Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
in 1520.
Mass production
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. At the same time, Philadelphia baker and fig lover Charles Roser was developing a recipe for a pastry based on the homemade fig roll likely brought to the US by immigrants from Britain. 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, trade marked the product as the Fig Newton.
Now a trademarked product of Nabisco, the unusual shape of Fig Newtons is a characteristic that has been adopted by many competitors, such as the generic fig bars sold by most supermarkets, and Newman's Own Fig Newmans (an organic
Organic may refer to:
* Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity
* Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ
Chemistry
* Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...
variety).
The Britannia Industries in India produces Fig Rolls.
See also
* Birnbrot * List of cookies * List of pastriesFootnotes 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 cuisine Egyptian cuisine Turkish cuisine Cypriot cuisine Syrian cuisine Lebanese cuisine Levantine cuisine Israeli cuisine Turkish Cypriot cuisine Pastries Snack foods Fig dishes