Strawberry Verte is a wonderful fig that is at a price that anyone can afford and it should be in almost every collection. It has a strong raspberry/strawberry jam flavor with a dense and very jammy texture. There are hints of lemon and red stone fruit as well. They are more dense than WM1. Very impressive when fully ripe and if you aren’t interested in spending the money for WM1, stop here. 😝

- Eric Durtschi

Strawberry Verte vs White Madeira #1

Ok. I’ve had quite a few of each of these for 2 years in a row and I feel like I’m ready to give a fair and accurate comparison of them, as they perform in my area. For those of you interested in a long drawn out explanation, read along. If you want the simple results, last paragraph is for you.

First of all, I want you to understand that I am a trained professional in culinary things. My expertise is with chocolate but I am a serious foodie and have experimented with fruits of all kinds for the past 30 years. I have an award winning line of chocolates that I started and have sourced cacao for many of the worlds finest artisan chocolatiers. I have taught tasting classes all over the world and I am also a tester for other chocolate companies as they trial new recipes.

My point in this is that I have a lot of experience in evaluating subtle flavors. It often will be fairly noticeable for me while not so much for those less trained. Almost everyone can learn to do this. My children are serious food critics! 😂 many people think chocolate is chocolate, berries are berries, melons are melons, peaches are peaches… you get it, but there are so many differences in each of these and it takes time to learn how to pick them out and appreciate them. Some people don’t care about this and just want something good. My dad is one of those people. Chocolate was chocolate no matter what I taught him. He liked some more than others but didn’t care to understand why. Totally fine. 🙂

Ok. Now that I have tried to set the stage for this, here goes.

Strawberry Verte is a wonderful fig that is at a price that anyone can afford and it should be in almost every collection. It has a strong raspberry/strawberry jam flavor with a dense and very jammy texture. There are hints of lemon and red stone fruit as well. They are more dense than WM1. Very impressive when fully ripe and if you aren’t interested in spending the money for WM1, stop here. 😝

I try to submit unbiased and truthful reviews so I often ask my family to evaluate them with me side by side and they do so blindly. Not knowing that one is a “premium” fig and the other is a “common run of the mill variety”. On each testing, all of them gave basically the same reaction.

I was dying today when my 17 year old tried WM1 right after SV. It would have been the perfect description to convey what I am trying to do here. When he tried SV, he basically described it as really good and like “raspberry jam and some other type of fruit, maybe strawberry”. When he tried WM1, he literally did a double take, said “Woah!” and pulled away and looked at the fig he had just bitten in surprise. He said it was “kind of like the first one but way better and more complex with lots of layers of flavor”.

I completely agree. WM1 has everything SV has but with more honey, sweeter flavor, more complex nuanced flavors. It isn’t just plain and simple raspberry/strawberry jam. Other than the initial berry, I get hints of citrus, tart cherry, maple syrup and even a hint of peach. WM1 also consistently has a pool of honey and SV often does not.

Some people prefer the punch to the face of a single flavor. I love it sometimes. Unknown Pastiliere is more like a cherry than half the cherries I’ve ever eaten. Nothing wrong with simple and straight forward but for a foodie, that can get boring so I prefer more subtlety with layers of flavor that slowly express themselves as you eat. It’s like a journey of flavor.

OK. Now that I’ve bored most of you, I’ll quit and most future lists will be more simple. 😂 So, these are clearly different figs despite their significantly similar appearance. WM1 is my personal winner for more complexity and sweetness. SV is fantastic for more pronounced, intense berry flavor and being cheap, it’s an awesome fig for anyone wanting a premium quality fig on a budget.

Eric Durtschi