Give a fig
Bring Mediterranean summer flavours to your table
Istill think of the summer of 1984 as the summer of figs. Blissfully fat black figs, their soft skins splitting with ripeness, scarlet floral centres meltingly, drippingly sweet. I had arrived in Ibiza with a pack full of Brazilian bikinis, hoping to make enough money to see me through the summer there. Through a friend of a friend of a friend, I found a cheap room in a cottage high in the hills in the northern part of the island.
Alas, people in Ibiza at that time fell into two camps: the trendy glamour set who never bothered with bathers and the package tourists who couldn’t possibly fit into my scant, sexy bikinis. And so I spent most of my time up in the hills, hanging out with my three housemates and their various tribes of children.
About 100m from the whitewashed stone cottage that was my home for the summer, a lone fig tree stood like some kind of lush tropical icon in the arid Mediterranean landscape. Each day at around 9am, with the sun just starting to warm the ground, I would make my pilgrimage to the tree, armed with a stack of books and a pillow. In the early morning the figs were dewy, cool and fresh. By midday they had warmed inside and the juices had started to run. By late afternoon their taste had a sweetness that was almost jam-like, pure juicy, dribbling warm honey. I just couldn’t get enough of them, day after day, a whole summer long. Even now, more than 30 years later, the whiff of a ripe fig transports me back to that magical tree and that Ibizan summer.
Like most Mediterranean islands, Ibiza offers the perfect climate for figs. Its long, hot, dry summers allow the fruit to ripen without risk of rot. Turkey and other areas of the Near and Middle East are the fig’s native land, and today the reputation of Smyrna figs still reigns supreme.
Here in New Zealand we have some wonderful fig varieties that perform well in this less-thanMediterranean of climates. In Wanaka I have planted five fig varieties but the star performer, consistently delivering ripe, sweet fruit, is the Mrs Williams variety.
Around Auckland and up north you will find a lot of wild brown turkey figs, while in Hawke’s Bay the climate is hot and dry enough for black-skinned, scarlet-fleshed mission figs.
If you’re lucky enough to have access to a fig tree this summer, here are some of my favourite ways of enjoying them. CRISPY FIG AND HONEY NESTS
Ready in 30 mins
Serves 6
50g butter
¼ cup honey
6 sheets filo pastry
6 large ripe figs
Whipped cream, mascarpone or icecream, to serve
Preheat oven to 180C fanbake and line an oven tray with baking paper. Melt butter and honey in a small pot or in the microwave. Lay filo in a stack on the bench, then brush the top sheet with the honey mixture. Scrunch up the top sheet lengthways into a long strip and wrap it around the outside of a fig to create a nest. Place on the prepared tray. Repeat to make 6 nests, brushing each sheet with the honey and butter mixture. Brush any leftover honey mixture over the nests. Use a sharp knife to cut a cross in the top of each fig so they don’t split. Bake until pastry is golden and crispy (about 15 minutes). Serve warm or at room temperature accompanied by whipped cream, mascarpone or icecream. Askerne Hawke’s Bay
Late Harvest gewurztraminer 2017 ($22.50)
How ridiculously gorgeous are these fig pockets? Just to send you into an overload of golden deliciousness, I’m recommending pouring yourself a goblet of this lipsmackingly luscious, sweet treat. Oozing toffee apple, ginger, manuka honey and spiced citrus characters, it also happens to be incredibly bright and refreshing on the palate and perfect with these figgy puddings. askernewines.co.nz
This simple but oh-so-pretty dessert can be prepared several hours in advance and baked at the last minute. If your figs are smaller, make two or three nests per person.