I had the pleasure of interacting with Zara while facilitating a session for the University of San Francisco’s Anthropology of Food program in October 2020. Zara is an animal lover and gastrophile; and is all about the transformative magic that the social aspect brings to the dinner table. We spoke about food trends, before diving deep into what makes some food more than just ‘for the gram’. Her story is one that will resonate deeply; bringing her family and traditions of Fig Newton Cookies from her Nonnie’s kitchen, to your Desktop Christmas Dinner.  

My favourite part about Christmas was not the presents under the trees. It wasn’t the snow falling outside, or the time spent with my family. No, my favourite Christmas memories are of me and my sister stuffing our faces until we were ill; with our great-grandmother Nana’s Italian Fig ‘Newton’ Cookies; which our grandmother, Nonnie, would only ever make during the month of December.

Looking Back

Just like my Nana taught my Nonnie how to make our family’s Fig Newtons, Nonnie taught me as well. One holiday season, when I was 10 years old, Nonnie walked me through all the steps. We started by making the filling. This consisted of figs, golden raisins, almonds, orange peels, orange marmalade, brandy, sugar and cinnamon. She told us to let sit in the fridge for three days in order to let all the flavours blend together.

After three long days, we used our hands to make the dough by mixing vegetable shortening with flour, baking powder and baking soda together. We slowly worked in eggs, milk and vanilla extract until the dough was smooth. We divided the dough into fourths and let it chill in the fridge for a few hours. When the dough was ready, we sprinkled flour on our counter and rolled the dough out into a big sheet. Nonnie showed me how to use an everyday water glass to cut perfect circles out of the sheet. After cutting out the circles, we rolled them out once again; to make sure the dough was thin, but not too thin that there were holes. We then scooped a generous portion of the fig filling into one half of the circle; moistened half of the edge with water and folded the other half of the circle over to make a crescent shape. To ensure that the cookies were sealed, we used a fork to press the edges together and then used a pizza cutter to clean up the edges before putting them in the oven.

Some of the cookies were not perfect, and the filling would often ooze out, but I personally thought those ones tasted the best! Once the cookies were cooled, we would place them into special tins so we could eat them as we pleased throughout the month.

Looking Ahead

Now that I live away from home, I haven’t had the joy of eating fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies during Christmas. Thankfully, for the past few years my Nonnie has sent me packages filled with them. This Christmas, my Nonnie was unable to make her Fig Newtons, so instead, I decided to make them and send some to her. I used the same recipe that we used many years ago. The process brought me back to the time in kitchen with my Nonnie many years ago. The holiday aroma of baked pastries, brandy, oranges, and figs wafted through my small San Francisco apartment and I definitely burnt my mouth eating a cookie straight from the oven.

Written by Zara Iacono and edited by  Jashan Sippy.

‘Food, the Feeling of Home’: A series of stories exploring nostalgia, the power of food, our memories and stories of ‘home’. Want to share your story? Send it to us at info@sugarandspace.in