Is sycamore fruit easily edible? what must be done to make it so?

Question

I've developed a fascination with sycamore trees and I've read that their fruits are edible. I can't find much information though on the fruit itself but from what I gather, the fruit must be pierced to allow wasps to pollinate it so that it might ripen. If this is wrong or if you have more information, please help me out, I greatly appreciate it.

Answer 1

The tree you are talking about is the Sycamore fig from Egypt rather than the Northern European Sycamore.  I have found this information about it:

"Botanical Information

The Sycamore fig tree should not be confused with other trees called sycamore in northern Europe, which are actually maples.

The sycamore fig tree (Ficus sycomorus sycomorus, and F. sycomorus gnaphalocarpa) belong to the fig family, which includes the common edible fig (Ficus carica), and the Banyan tree.

The tree is evergreen, grows to 20 meters high and 15-20 meters horizontally, and has large leaves that provide shade. Its natural habitat is alone rivers and streams in thickets.

Like all the fig trees, if bruised, a white latex exudes from the cut.

The fruits grow in clusters, and can be found for several months of the year in some places, April to June in some places and summer to December in others.

The tree does not bear seeds, and is hence human dependant in Egypt.

Like all figs, it requires a certain species of wasp, Ceratosolen arabicus, to pollinate it.

The young fruit are nicked with a knife to encourage their ripening. The orangish fruit is not too sweet and has a distinctive, yet not strong taste. "