A disappointing plate of restaurant tacos sent me straight to my kitchen — and into cochinita pibil, a dish I'd never made. I swapped pork for beef, banana leaves for fig leaves from my own tree, and learned along the way what actually makes pibil pibil. The result: boneless wagyu short ribs, wrapped and slow-cooked for three hours, with a garnish inspired by a Yucatecan condiment called xnipec. Inspiration, not authenticity — and I'm happy with that distinction.

A full season of cooking with figs and fig leaves, logged by date from the first green figs in May to the last salad in July. Toasted fig leaf powder, cheesecake, a pistachio tart with 23 eyes, pickles, smoked figs, chutney. One failure — goat cheese aged in grappa-soaked leaves, which did absolutely nothing. I didn't invent any of it. All of it was new to me.

Fig leaves are one of the most underrated ingredients hiding in plain sight. Most people walk past them every day without a second thought. But these deeply lobed leaves carry a remarkable aroma — toasted coconut, vanilla, almond — and a culinary history stretching back to ancient Greece. In this post I'll show you how to choose, prepare, and cook with fig leaves, and share two simple recipes to get you started.