In Good Taste: Do give a fig
Fig and almond cake
Hot buttered toast with fig and walnut jam…the perfect autumnal way to start the day. I adore figs—the fruit, the leaves and the trees they grow on. The cacophony of bird song coming from these ancient trees as the figs ripen is amazing. Birds like figs too. As do wasps. In fact, a gnat-sized fig wasp is responsible for the pollination of three of the four different types of fig, and in a completely fascinating way. True birds and bees and flowers and trees stuff….
The common fig is the only type whose female flowers are able to form without pollination, and even more unusual is that the fruit, which form first, enclose the flowers (almost 1500 tiny fruits, which we think of as the seeds).
Mention of the fig appears often in the Bible (there was that thing about Adam and Eve…) and Buddha was said to have contemplated Buddhism while sitting in the shade of a fig tree. Figs symbolise peace, fertility and prosperity. Their cultivation by humans since 9000BC predates the domestication of wheat. They are still used worldwide in their fresh and dried forms.
The white juice that appears at the stalk end of a just-picked fig was used like rennet to curdle milk. This explains the advice not to drink wine after eating figs.
Just as happy in sweet or savoury cooking, the fig is versatile in its uses, AND contains more dietary fibre than any other common fruit. Full of other health-giving properties too, quite frankly the fig is simply luscious!
Some simple ideas for figs:
Figs stuffed with blue cheese (or goat cheese), wrapped in bacon and grilled.
Figs sliced in half and placed atop your next batch of almond muffins
Fresh fig halves pressed into your own focaccia, sprinkled with fennel seeds and baked.
Pizza topping of fig slices, mozzarella and prosciutto
Make fig chutney to serve with ham
Cut each fruit in four and open like a flower. Fill with mascarpone and drizzle with honey.
Do as above but fill with almond-flavoured cream.
Halve and grill the figs until caramelised. Serve with panna cotta and a splash of Amaretto
Sweet and sour jammy figs
These are good served with sausages and lentils, pork or duck. The recipe comes from Diana Henry. The quality of the vinegars will affect the taste and sweetness of this dish. Add more sugar if your vinegars are harshly acidic.
50ml red wine vinegar
50ml balsamic vinegar
50ml sherry vinegar
75g sugar
1 cinnamon quill
350g fresh figs
Place the vinegars, sugar and cinnamon in a pot and heat until simmering and the sugar has dissolved. Beware the fumes! Reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes. Halve the figs and add them to the pan, cooking until the mixture is slightly syrupy. It will thicken more as it cools.
I can’t remember where this next recipe came from but I can remember sending it to an eccentric artist friend of mine who I felt it suited perfectly.
Philosopher’s Jam
Should you find yourself with one perfect but solitary fresh fig, here is an excellent recipe for it. An instant jam of garnet hues, with perhaps a flavour from the past.
5 sweet almonds
1 ripe fresh fig
1 teaspoon mild honey
Pound the nuts in a mortar until finely crushed. Work in the quartered fig and the honey. Spread the jam on very fresh bread or toast and serve.
Of course if you can’t be bothered going to that much trouble for just one fig, you can always try them as Patience Grey recommends: “…best eaten from the tree, or gathered in the very early morning and set on a fig leaf in a dish in pyramid form to eat at mid-day”. Quite!
Fig and almond cake
Butter and line a springform cake tin with baking paper. Heat the oven to 180°C
125g butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence (or use almond)
2 eggs
11/3 cups of flour
11/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup of sour cream
1/3 cup of ground almonds
10 fresh figs, halved
Place the butter, sugar and essence into a mixing bowl and stir until pale and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well. Add the sour cream and almonds and stir through. Sift on the flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Lightly fold through the mixture until incorporated. Spoon into the cake tin and smooth the top. Place the fig halves in an attractive pattern on top. Bake for about 55 minutes or until just cooked when tested. Cool on a rack before removing from the tin. Serve with softly whipped cream.
It is no surprise that the fig is so often included in the paintings of the famous still-life artists, with its connotations and provocative form it seduces the onlookers and arouses the appetite making it just as good to eat before a meal as after.
I think the idea of offering a bowl of fruit after dinner is a great way to end a meal. A small bowl of figs from your own tree presented on a fig leaf, a plate of perfectly ripe mandarins, a slice of melon or a perfect pear. Always so cleansing and refreshing.
Fiona Feasey
