food to glow

This time of year – despite the falling temperatures and falling leaves – is a favourite time for me as a cook, and glutton. And figs are one reason why.

Beautiful, black Turkish figs – with their soft, edible dusky-leather jackets, and their tiny crunchy seeds – are my favourite fruit of autumn. I know this sounds a bit poncey, but eating one transports me back to the garden of a house we stayed at in southern France. It was a beautiful, sprawling house, isolated from the rest of humankind and overlooking a heat-hazed valley, checkered with fertile plots and poky wee villages. The best thing about this house – other than the bracingly cold pool – was the overhanging fig trees, with fruit so ripe we would find them smashed on the path each morning; useless to us but bliss for the birds. We managed to snaffle a few before they dropped, but even just the scent as we passed under the heavily-burdened boughs was heavenly. Since then I have greedily bought up ripe figs when in season trying to briefly experience a glimpse of that wonderful family holiday. And then it rains…

Like plums, I enjoy figs most in their natural, raw state. When at their best – their little bottoms anointed with just a droplet of natural syrup – it seems a sin to do anything but slice them;  enjoying their glorious heady perfume with little more than a some soft, spicy leaves – like rocket – and a perhaps a few pinches of creamy, young mozzarella. A sparing drizzle of raspberry vinegar doesn’t go amiss either. See, greedy.

Less oozingly ripe figs are great for roasting, as well as preserving as compote or jam. Dried, figs take on an altogether different persona – slightly worthy, a whiff medicinal. Fresh is most definitely best. Then, as a close and sticky second, roasted and juicy with mingling of natural sugars and a little added pucker and sweet.

Gooey and toffee-like, but with a tang from the balsamic or raspberry vinegar, these roasted figs make a beautiful dessert, cosied up with a quenelle of crème fraiche or soft goats cheese; dolloped onto ice cream (or indeed stirred into ice cream, with perhaps some freshly made pistachio praline, and refrozen); nestled into a sweetcrust pastry along with fresh, broken cobnuts or hazelnuts and slices of ripest pear. But equally they step out with walnuts and crunchy, bitter chicory in a fresh – almost instant – autumn salad. Seasonal eating at its simplest and most versatile.

Take advantage of the offers in the shops and of course, farmer’s markets. I recently scooped up four boxes of six fruits each recently as they were on their sell-by-date – i.e., they were perfectly ripe. Avoid hard figs, or ones that feel less heavy than their brothers: these never ripen and are largely useless, even after roasting. Not a fig-buying expert? Here’s some guidance.

Make a batch of these roasted and syrupy figs and store to dip into over the coming week. In addition to these ideas, why not add to grain salads with rocket and pistachios, or use instead of fresh fig in my recent fig and labneh tartine? These are even sweet enough to have with a bowl of muesli or granola.

Figs love: almonds, hazelnuts, cobnuts, walnuts, pistachios (etc), chocolate, blue and goats cheese, cinnamon, vanilla and cardamom, mint, orange, pears and apples, plums, raspberries and brambles (also growing now), smoked meats and bitter leaves.

Seasonal goodies growing in the UK:

Vegetables aubergines, beetroot, broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, celeriac, celery, courgettes, cucumber, fennel, climbing beans, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuces, mangetout, onions, pak choi, sweet peppers and chili peppers, main crop potatoes, pumpkins and winter squashes (just), radishes, rocket, runner beans, shallots, spring onions, sweetcorn, tomatoes, turnips, watercress and wild mushrooms.

Fruits apples, bilberries and blueberries, blackberries and brambles (wild), damsons, elderberries, medlars, pears, plums, raspberries (the last of them), red currants and rowan berries.

Figs are imported from the Turkey, but do grow in the UK. Just not in commercial quantities. A friend has the most prolific tree but they often don’t ripen well enough to be entirely useful. Not hot enough here. Unlike the south of France. Grrrr.

Nutrition Bit: Figs are high in natural sugars (that’s why they roast so well) and soluble fibre. Figs are also rich in minerals including potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and copper and are a good source of vitamins A, E and K. A single raw fig comes in at a paltry  37 calories, so are a great fruit to include when managing weight as they are quite filling. They are often used as a natural remedy for constipation. But don’t hold that against them.

Other Fig Recipes on Food To Glow:

Cardamom-Spiced Fig and Plum Galette

Lebanese Freekeh and Fig Salad

Fig and Labneh Tartines with Maple and Cardamom

Gorgeous Fig Recipes from Others:

Carob and Fig Superfood Smoothie – Whole Nourishment

Coconut Milk,Coriander and Jalapeño-Marinated Halloumi with Figs – Deena Kakaya Vegetarian Recipes and Cooking

Fig, Beetroot and Feta Salad – Tinned Tomatoes

Salmon with Red Onions, Figs and Honey – The Healthy Epicurean

Figgy Buckwheat Scones – 101 Cookbooks