The first fresh figs have ripened on our tree in the front yard, earlier than they did last year. Maybe it’s the dry weather, maybe it’s that our tree is four years old now and beginning to mature.
Figs are something I know I should love more than I really do. They are beautiful, lush, even sensual — and very sweet. But there’s the rub: I am not a fan of anything overly sweet, and figs lack any sort of acidity to balance out their sweetness. In this they are like mulberries.
Still, wrapping my fresh Mission figs in translucent sheets of prosciutto or jamon serrano and grilling them briefly over hardwoods is one of my summer’s great joys. Salty, meaty ham and the kiss of smoke add what figs lack. But even a squeeze of lemon helps a lot.
Our tree will have more figs than we can eat fresh this year, something I have waited for since we moved here and planted it in the summer of 2004. This means there will soon be cookie sheets loaded with figs sitting out in our 100-degree days, drying for the fall and winter. Dried figs I use in Moroccan tagines or game stews.
I also plan to make many batches of sykomaitha, the dried Greek fig cakes I made for our Big Fat Greek Party. But still, I suspect I am neglecting any number of figgy delights I know nothing about.
I do know several Greeks read these pages. Got any ideas for me? How about the Italians? Ilva? Maryann? West Coast foragers know that fig trees grow wild all over the place here. How about you? Anyone else got any great ideas for fresh figs? I am all ears.
18 responses so far ↓
1 NorCal Cazadora
// Jun 25, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Your beloved sorta Greek girlfriend is more than happy to eat them fresh, Dearest, so don’t go drying too many of them. But by all means, get some proscuitto and fire up that grill!
2 adele
// Jun 25, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Fig jam goes nicely with cheese. And would probably go well with duck, too.
3 Peter
// Jun 25, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Hank, I envy you as I only get to taste fresh figs later when in Greece.
I’m a purist when it comes to fresh figs and prefer them “as is” but I’ve roasted some with a cube of blue stuffed in it, fig marmalade and a must try…scoop out the very-ripe fig meat and add it to your strained Greek yogurt..fabulous part of a brekkie.
4 Ryan
// Jun 25, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I can’t wait for my figs to start turning that lovely shade of purple. Now, to keep the damn birds away from the things…
5 Jesse
// Jun 25, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I just checked my young fig tree, nothing ready yet. I planted a fig tree in the side yard 2 years ago but it didn’t do very good for some reason and died. Last year a runner from that fig tree started up and it’s doing much better. I see the birds eyeballing the figs too so I need to get a net over the tree before they rob me blind like they did my plums.
Thanks for the ideas about what to do with the figs.
6 genevelyn
// Jun 25, 2008 at 7:38 pm
figs roasted, split in half, pummeled with fresh ricotta creamy like icecream, drizzled with greek honey and chopped pistachio
just a thought..
7 mdmnm
// Jun 25, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Fresh figs, sliced in half and served room temperature with Castello blue and water crackers. The tangy blue complements the sweetness nicely. I’m lucky enough to have relatives in Texas that bring me out a fresh figs every summer- always a high point!
8 Núria
// Jun 25, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Hola! I adore figs! I could start eating them and leave your tree without any in minutes!
For me, the best way is contrasting them with a salty ingredient such as Iberian acorn ham…. something to die for… but in a salad they are also good.
9 Maryann
// Jun 26, 2008 at 6:48 am
Oh Hank, I have a love affair with fresh figs!! I believe the best way to eat them is to enjoy them in their natural state. Just bite into them!
10 Kevin
// Jun 28, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Figs. Not fair. Just. Not. Fair.
11 hank
// Jun 29, 2008 at 11:16 am
I really like the idea of pairing them with blue cheese! Can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that. And Peter, I have made — and plan to make again — a small batch of fig jam. I am just not a huge user of jams or jellies, so one batch will be more than enough for us.
The idea of pistachios, ricotta and Greek honey sounds like my kind of dessert, Genevelyn!
12 Sam Sotiropoulos
// Jun 29, 2008 at 3:06 pm
You can try making syka moustomena which is figs in grape must sauce, but you need to dry them for that…
13 elgin
// Jul 3, 2008 at 1:51 am
wow, fig trees. makes me want to move to california!
14 Kelly
// Jul 3, 2008 at 11:20 am
Our fig tree is producing like crazy this year, but they’re all still green. When do I pick them?
15 hank
// Jul 4, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Kelly: You pick figs when they are almost ripe. There are green figs, so unless you know which variety you have, squeeze one gently that kinda looks ripe — if it is squooshy (technical term), take a bite and see.
Figs will ripen a bit off the tree, so you can pick while you still see a little bit of green still. But they should be almost totally purple…if they are purple figs.
16 Mussels Grilled On A Barbecue | Nose To Tail At Home // Jul 7, 2008 at 10:42 pm
[...] thinking about an update over on Hank Shaw’s blog about wrapping ripe figs in prosciutto and then grilling them. I mentally added prosciutto to my shopping [...]
17 Lulu Barbarian
// Jul 13, 2008 at 2:32 pm
With the unripe figs you can make a spoon sweet:
http://mamastaverna.com/baby-fig-spoon-sweet-sikalaki-gliko/
18 jo
// Jul 14, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Yea ummm tuck some goat cheese in the fig and THEN wrap it in pig products. Mmmm Hmmmm
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