Fruit

Black Mission

S tier

Black Mission (Franciscana) is the dark, purple-black California icon—deep red-to-strawberry flesh, high sugar, and a jammy, berry-tinged richness that defines many people’s idea of a “real” fresh fig. Introduced with Spanish missions along the Pacific coast, it thrives in Mediterranean heat and produces abundant main-crop fruit that turns almost black when fully ripe. Skin is thin; ripe fruit weeps nectar and bruises if stacked carelessly. Eat Black Mission out of hand, roast with balsamic and goat cheese, or dry into the classic dark California dried fig. The intense colour bleeds into batters and salads—use that deliberately. Because sugar is high, overripe fruit ferments within a day or two at room temperature; refrigerate ripe lots and plan to use them fast. Underripe purple fruit stays chalky and latex-bitter, so colour alone is not enough—softness and fragrance matter.