Figs recipes

Browse our wonderful collection of fig recipes, including Tom Aikens' fig tart recipe, a camembert, fig and onion tart recipe from Marcello Tully and a hot fig mousse recipe from Simon Rogan, plus words from Matthew Fort.

Fort on Figs

‘The proper way to eat a fig, in society,’ wrote DH Lawrence,
‘Is to split it in four, holding it by the stump,
And open it so that it is a glittering, rosy, moist, honied, heavy-petalled
four-petalled flower ……..

But the vulgar way
Is just to put your mouth to the crack and take out the flesh in just one bite.’

Yes, well. The fig has always a heavy symbolism about it. No wonder Adam and Eve got kicked out of the Garden of Eden for eating a fig. So much more likely than eating an apple, for heaven’s sake. I’m a one-bite kind of bloke. You can dress a fig up in a tart or a jam or dry it, stuff it with almonds and cinnamon and cover it with chocolate which they do in Southern Italy (ficchi al ciocolato), or even use it to dress up other things, but I still think a ripe fig taken from the tree and eaten on the spot is the sweetest and best. I can still remember the exquisite pleasure of a fig I picked from a tree hanging over a pond in my uncle’s house in the hills above Tivoli early one morning. The outside had been warmed by the early morning sun, but the fleshy inside was still cold from the cool night air. As you might expect from a fruit that has been grown and consumed all over the place since prehistoric times, there are dozens upon dozens of local varieties such as Croisic, Mission or Franciscana, Dottato or Cadota, Verdone or White Adriatic. Brown Turkey or Brunswick, Ventura and Zidi, each of which has its own passionate advocates.

As far as I can make out, all figs break down into three or possibly four basic types. There’s the Common Fig, which may be black outside and red within, or green-yellow on the outside and coral inside or even jade green outside and pink inside. There’s the Smyrna Fig (aka Calimyrna Fig in the USA). These are bigger than your average fig, amber inside and out, with a distinctive nutty favour when fresh, although you’re most likely to come across them dried. There are Caprifigs, which are wild figs. I don’t think you have to worry much about Caprifigs as they’re mostly used for breeding new varieties. And then there’s the San Pedro fig, which is a kind of Intermediate Fig.

Where all this gets us, I’m not too sure, as figs are almost as unpredictable as funghi in my experience, varying from tree to tree and from season to season. But when you find a fully ripe fruit, cracked open slightly underneath, with honied syrup oozing quietly from it, then it is one of the most sublime eating experiences anyone can have.

Article written by Matthew Fort

What Figs go with

Figs are sweet, delicious and sticky and interplay well with a wide range of ingredients in both sweet or savoury recipes. Figs recipes often involve bold spices like cinnamon, rosemary or five spice, a nod to their favoured status in the Middle East. On this theme, Martin Wishart 's fig recipe calls for the figs to be roasted with rosemary and honey and served with a spicy bread, while Tom Aikens' fig recipe is the most simple of tart recipes and is served with a cinnamon ice cream on the side.

Fig recipes often contain cheese elements, as exemplified by Geoffrey Smeddle's puff pastry with goat's cheese, figs, olives and capers, as well as Marcello Tully's Camembert and onion tart, in which figs are cooked in balsamic vinegar and served on the side. Nathan Outlaw's daring fig recipe creates the most delicious of cakes using figs, hazelnuts and ale. Simon Rogan's fig dessert is equally well crafted, as it involves the creation of a meringue base that is crafted into a soufflé full of figs flavoured with orange, arrowroot and vanilla.

Figs recipes

Fig ice cream with granola and yoghurt mousse Paul Foster

Course:	Dessert
Complexity:	Medium
Cooking Time:	1 hour plus freezing and churning time
Serves:	8

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Fig tart with cinnamon ice cream Tom Aikens

Course:	Dessert
Complexity:	Medium
Cooking Time:	1 hour 20 minutes plus cooling and freezing time
Serves:	4

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Fig, hazelnut and ale cake Nathan Outlaw

Course:	Dessert
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	1 hour plus soaking and cooling
Serves:	4

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Hot fig mousse Simon Rogan

Course:	Dessert
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	1 hour 30 minutes
Serves:	4

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Roasted figs with spiced bread Martin Wishart

Course:	Dessert
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	1 hour
Serves:	4

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Camembert, fig and onion tart Marcello Tully

Course:	Starter
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	2 hours
Serves:	8

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Grouse, fried brioche and fig purée Kevin Mangeolles

Course:	Main
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	8 hours
Serves:	6

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Cheddar scones with pickled celery and grilled figs Nathan Outlaw

Course:	Canapé
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	30 minutes
Serves:	8

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Warm puff pastry tart with goats’ cheese, figs, olives and capers Geoffrey Smeddle

Course:	Starter
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	2 hours 30 minutes
Serves:	4

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Warm salad of Jersey Royals with goats cheese pine nuts and fresh figs Shaun Rankin

Course:	Other
Complexity:	Easy
Cooking Time:	20 minutes
Serves:	4

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