Attn: Fig Fans and/or Culinary Experts

[quasigeostrophy]

When Toni and I were at Trader Joe's yesterday, out of curiosity I got a small package of fresh mission figs. I've always loved them dried or in various dishes, but I hadn't tried them fresh. I tried one and it had a slightly unpleasant (to me) bitter aftertaste. Is this normal, and is there anything I can do with these to remedy that (there are about six left in the package, and I don't want just to waste them) other than the obvious (dry them) within my fairly limited kitchen versatility and time?