For the folks in the Med figs are as common as apples are for us, hence known as ‘poor man’s food’. And even though these days fig trees grow abundantly in Britain – an impressive specimen in my own garden – getting them to produce ripe fruit seems quite complicated.
But we can enjoy imported fruit, especially the Turkish varieties in season in September and October. They are gorgeous raw, in salads, jammed and baked, in cakes and in savoury tarts. Here’s a collection to give a fig about!
Fresh figs with honey and cream
Unconventionally, this collection starts with a no-recipe recipe, no link to the recipe page because it’s all here. Cut a fresh and ripe fig into quarters, then each quarter in half. Arrange them in a bowl, drizzle with some very good honey and spoon a dollop of crème fraiche. A dessert fit for gods.
Fresh figs with honey and cream
If you think you don’t particularly like figs, try this: baked figs with blue cheese, a drop of honey and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. This can be a gorgeous starter, side dish, lunch or even a healthy dessert.
Baked figs with blue cheese
RECIPE
Saganaki is a Greek dish of anything cooked and served in a small skillet. Here, caramelised figs are paired with fried feta for a super tasty snack, lunch or a starter. Salty and sweet, it’s a great mix of flavours.
Figs are great in cakes, for instance this easy recipe with a brown sugar, yoghurt and almond sponge, topped with sweet ripe figs and cinnamon. A simple seasonal bake ready in under an hour.
Fresh fig and brown sugar cake
RECIPE
Another cake, this time an upside down, Tatin style recipe. Fresh figs with almond flakes are baked at the bottom of the tin covered by moist and soft buttery cake batter. This cake is perfect with the morning coffee.
Sweet as well as savoury, that’s how versatile figs can be. Fig and prosciutto tart with ready-rolled puff pastry takes about five minutes to prepare and twenty to bake. A divine, seasonal lunch or starter dish, best made with gorgeous Bursa figs.
Fig and prosciutto tart
RECIPE
This is a match made in heaven, and an unexpectedly excellent pairing. Tomato and fig salad with crumbled blue cheese and balsamic dressing: sweet figs, ripe tomatoes with a salty tang of blue cheese make up an incredible burst of flavours.
You can make fig jam, but this fig confit is more versatile: serve it with cheese and meats as well as on toast. Fresh fig confiture made with whole chunks of figs in a syrup made with port or madeira wine. It will keep for two weeks in the fridge.
A crimson feast: twice roasted beetroot with figs and pomegranate. Beetroot roasted in foil is easy to peel. Next, it’s baked with fresh figs and pomegranate seeds for a delicious autumnal dish, topped with soft goats cheese.
Beetroot with figs and pomegranate
RECIPE
And the final recipe is a little off piste – dried figs – but it’s magic: bread leavened with wild yeast water made from fermented dried figs. Possibly the most organic, natural and fascinating way of creating food. It’s no longer fermentation – it’s alchemy.