Figs

Fig flavours

Figs are the essence of the south, a food as reminiscent of ancient times as the olive, the grapevine and wheat. At their freshest, ripest best, they are lush mouthfuls of soft pink flesh, fragrant and undeniably sensual, with a simple and true taste of the land they come from.

There are several basic botanical types of fig but within these there are hundreds of commercial varieties which form a wide spectrum of flavour, sweetness, size and colour, ranging from purple to brown, green-gold, black or even white. In the Mediterranean regions, there are usually two crops, with the season stretching from June through to October and November. It is these second-crop figs that are usually dried.

In classical Greece, athletes would eat figs in training for the Olympics. The Romans believed the best figs came from Izmir in Asia Minor, where large, yellow Smyrna figs are still grown, mostly for drying.

Small Mission figs were introduced into California in the 18th century from Mexico via Franciscan monks and Spanish missionaries. Deep purple-black on the outside and red inside, they have a rather coarse texture but sweet flavour. Mostly used for drying, they are moist enough to be used straight from the packet.

Yellow-green Italian Dottato (or Cadota) figs are probably the most important variety of common fig. Although usually eaten fresh they are also used for canning. Their squashy, syrupy sweetness makes a good store-cupboard companion for vanilla ice cream.

Dried figs

Dried figs can be soaked in boiling water, although the well-known food writer Jane Grigson recommended steaming as a mode of revival, especially if you want to the fig to keep its shape. Dried figs are also excellent chopped, mixed with nuts and spices and added to tea-breads and cakes, or stewed, flavoured with anise and fennel.

Figgy pudding is a traditional steamed British pudding, sometimes eaten on Palm Sunday. In Provence, a New Year dessert known as ‘les quatres mendicants’ is a mixture of figs, raisins, hazelnuts and almonds, made to commemorate the colours of the habits once worn by the four Roman Catholic mendicant orders.

Fresh figs

Fresh figs are best eaten as close to the tree of origin and as ripe as possible, when they’re just on the point of bursting. Look for the telltale honey-like drop of moisture on the surface.

Ripe figs, however, are highly perishable and will not keep for longer than three days in the fridge. Thin-skinned and easily bruised, they need careful handling and should be wrapped for travel in tissue, like a Romanov princess. Bring out their delicate scent and flavour by leaving them in the sun for an hour or so before serving.

Fig feasts

A perfect fresh fig is best eaten simply as a dessert or as a starter with prosciutto. Eating them this way is an old tradition. In Assisi in 1874, John Ruskin wrote “Catherine brought me up as a great treat yesterday at dinner, ham… and a plate of raw figs, telling me I was to eat them together!”

If you have a good supply, however, use them to make ice cream or sorbet, as does Regis Negrier, pastry chef at The Wolseley in London. He says, “When figs are ripe they are sweet and juicy, full of sun. It’s a delight to make a sorbet from mashed figs, lemon juice and sugar to taste, which I use in a coupe with figs marinated overnight in port wine and orange juice. We also use dried figs for our autumn breakfast compote, combined with apples, apricots, prunes and spices, and cooked very slowly until tender.”

For reasons of convenience, however, many figs are imported hard and immature. If they are very under-ripe, poach them gently in vanilla syrup or bake them slowly with a drizzle of honey, fortified wine (such as port or sweet sherry) and aromatic flavourings such as cinnamon, citrus peel and pomegranate seeds. Even those who famously, like Aristophanes, could not give a fig, will be seduced.

Recipes

Try your hand at these recipes for a delectable autumnal fig feast:

• Pan-fried figs with black pepper yoghurt by Jill Dupleix
• Fig tart with scented cream from BBC Good Food magazine
• Grilled figs with toasted almond cream by Damien Pignolet
• Poached figs with blackberries in red wine by Antony Worrall Thompson
• Honey nut baked fresh figs by Ainsley Harriott
• Chocolate cheesecake with fig crust from The Galloping Gourmet
• Fig and date scones by Paul Hollywood