Fig

Back In The Fig Time Rosie Healey, founder of Gloriosa, on harnessing the joy of late-season figs.Interview by Rachel Walker. Photo by Angela Dukes.

Once soft fruit and summer berries have peaked, figs are a great source of sweetness. Not just in desserts, but to balance out the sharpness in dishes that contain big, salty ingredients like blue cheese. One salad we often make around this time of year combines quartered figs with peeled, late-season tomatoes and Gorgonzola, dressed with olive oil, salt and moscatel vinegar.

Blue cheese doesn’t have to feature to justify the presence of a fig, though. More unusually – for a British palate anyway – is a borlotti bean and fig salad. It’s an Italian recipe, but the ingredients travel well. The figs do need to be ripe – if they’re not yet soft and purple, put them on a windowsill for a couple of days or gently roast them at 160C until they start to soften. The beans are cooked in water seasoned with sage and olive oil, mixed with the quartered figs, seasoned with oregano, salt and olive oil and heaped on garlic-rubbed crostini.

It’s interesting that, for all the sweetness and distinct flavour of figs, their leaves have an entirely different flavour profile. When infused in milk and cream and then churned with a custard into a fig leaf ice cream, they have almost a coconutty flavour. We scoop the ice cream into a wee glass, drizzle some olive oil over it and add a pinch of salt – diners who haven’t tried it before are always so shocked.

Another favourite is a frangipane tart packed with figs. Whether it’s chopped walnuts, toasted hazelnuts or the almond filling of a sweet frangipane tart, the flavour of nuts goes so well with those jammy, autumnal figgy notes. I never blind-bake a frangipane – the filling is heavy, not too wet and it all bakes nicely together – so it’s an unfussy dessert, best served with a scoop of ricotta with honey whisked through it.

This Article was taken from the October 2024 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe today, click here.