AN ANCIENT DELICACY

Figs are considered the earliest known cultivated fruit crop, after remnants were discovered in a prehistoric village near Jericho dating back some 11,400 years. Yet, for their storied history, fresh figs remain a fairly hard-to-buy fruit in this country as a result of the very short timeframe between them being ripe and over-ripe. While not widely grown commercially due to poor storage ability and fragility, these ‘fruits of heaven’ are found in home gardens in abundance up and down the country. If you want to get your hands on some of the delicacies, one of the best-known New Zealand producers, Te Mata figs in Hawke’s Bay, sell them at their Figgery, the Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Markets and online from around the end of February. They have about 30 cultivars available for fig-loving foodies to explore, including Adriatic, Brunoro Black, Oakura, New Smyrna, Macedonian, Lebanon, Mrs Williams, Ventura, Misa, French Sugar and Preston Prolific. One of the fastest and easiest ways to enjoy your fresh figs is to cut them in half, brush them with olive oil, sprinkle with sugar and roast them gently in the oven, just enough to bring out their natural sweetness and so they go a bit jammy in the middle. They pair with an amazing array of other ingredients and are very versatile, from roasting whole to serve with duck, to cooking into a paste to accompany cheeses or poaching in wine and enjoying with ice cream.

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There’s nothing quite like a fig. Its earthy, nutty flavour turns any meal into a worldly affair, and it pairs perfectly with both sweet and savoury . mindfood.com/6-ways-with-figs