We have an old fig tree in the garden. I’m not sure how old, but compared with the one we planted two years ago, he must be more of a great great grandad than a cousin.
I’ve never done anything particularly special with the fruit. Just picked them straight from the tree and eaten them. (Well that’s special enough, isn’t it?) This year I roasted some in the oven. They were good; they weren’t great.
I turned to one of my favourite cookery books: Honey From A Weed, by Patience Gray (1986, The Lyons Press). If you haven’t come across it yet, do have a look because it’s a jewel.
Gray states that this is one of the trees that survived the ice age. (I don’t think ours is that old.) The others listed are: carob, myrtle, vine, oleander, plane, olive, lentisk and Judas tree. She goes on to say:
The milky juice the fig exudes was used as rennet to curdle milk in cheese-making. This explains the ever repeated advice not to drink wine after eating figs.
Has anyone ever given you that piece of advice before? It’s a first for me.
Then, a click on one of my new favourite sites gave a recipe for grilling figs wrapped in prosciutto with a few drops of Balsamic vinegar.
I love it when that happens: great timing, great recipe.
I’ve never tried these before. They were delicious and very easy.
This recipe is from The Feast Within. Thank you for the inspiration.
I also made some Marmellata di Fichi:
- 2 1/2 lbs fresh figs (halved, but not peeled)
- 1 1/2 lbs sugar
- 1 lemon
- 2 bay leaves
Add the sugar to the figs, cover and stand overnight in a cool place.- Add bay leaves and the zest and juice of the lemon.
- Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally.
- Remove bay leaves before bottling.
Notes: Leaving the figs in the sugar overnight draws the juice from the figs so there is no need to add water. I used ordinary granulated sugar without pectin and just kept it on the heat until it came to setting point.
So it is jam today and it went really well with a very mature Asiago.
Great great grandad tree gave us a great, great crop this year, so I also decided to look a little further afield. I found this post by Napa Farmhouse 1885. The author gives some simple yet delicious ideas on what to do with your crop, or if you find a good bargain at the market.
Casalba News 
Hi Gabi, your pictures and description were too good to resist. Plus, as I say, the timing was perfect.
PS Don’t want to insult your intelligence because your garden looks lovely so you’re certainly not a novice. But, try planting it this autumn/early winter when the plant is dormant. Also, they do really well in large containers as, when their roots are slightly restricted, you’ll get more fruit.
Rowena, I made the jam with the bruised (and even split) figs. Some were over ripe, but it was still delicious.
No, I haven’t tried the peaches you mention. I don’t know exactly what they are – I’ll have to check them out.
Thank you for leaving a message. I’ve now checked a lot of your posts and the one I absolutely have to try is the Timballo!
Ditto, Diane (And thanks for the ideas)
There’s another good idea on what to do with them. Thanks, Amanda.
Hi Michelle, I must have been very lucky with this large tree. We’ve already been eating them for about a fortnight and there are still many to come – ripening over at least another month. They are so sweet that you can even smell the perfume just walking past.
Do let me know how it does, Gabi. A painting studio… – how lovely.
Thanks for passing by, Sue.