One of the things that living in South Africa has taught me is the pure, unadulterated joy that can be gained from eating fresh figs. A lot of Brits seem not to like figs. But when pushed, most self-confessed fig loathers will admit that they haven’t actually tasted a fresh fig but just don’t like the dried variety. Or more specifically they don’t like the centre of that legendary bastion of the British biscuit tin, the fig roll, and therefore must hate anything figgy.
A truly fresh fig is a thing of beauty. The best figs I have ever tasted came from Prince Albert in the Karoo. Plump and sweet and straight from the tree. My favourite way to eat fresh figs is to wrap them in foil with a little creamy blue or goat’s cheese and a drizzle of honey and bake them on the BBQ/braai for 10 minutes or so. Delicious. I cannot wait until fig season rolls around again.
But sadly it is not fig season here yet and the only figs in the shops are from Israel and heavy with food miles. So for my entry into this month’s One Ingredient Challenge hosted by Nazima at Working London Mummy and Laura at How to Cook Good Food (and for which the chosen ingredient is figs), I am afraid I have resorted to using the dried variety in this Sicilian aubergine & fig caponata. Served with goat’s cheese, parmesan biscuits and lavender honey, it looks rather fancy but aside from a substantial amount of chopping, it is really very easy. The sweetness of the figs pairs perfectly with the saltiness of the capers in the caponata and the little parmesan biscuits were something of a revelation – they are spectacularly easy to make and have a lovely flaky texture. The dish makes a lovely summery starter for four or a light main course for two. The original recipe is from the June edition of Olive magazine and can be found on the BBC GoodFood website here.
This is a delicious sounding recipe and I agree with you figs do work so well when partnered with salty flavours. Caponata is a great dish and so good to have a large tub of it in the fridge, perfect for a quick and tasty lunch. Adding figs to this dish is a brilliant idea. Serving it with parmesan biscuits and a good goat’s cheese makes it a really perfect meal!
Thanks for entering One Ingredient,
Laura@howtocookgoodfood xxx
Yum! I will wait for fig season to try this
OH YES! What a GREAT recipe and I have bookmarked this to make as my fig tree is producing figs at an alarming rate! Karen
Love figs, this looks really nice : )
Ooh, that looks lovely. I have been meaning to try caponata for ages now. I actually like dried figs, but haven’t really had them fresh, and certainly not raw very often. My mum says the best figs she ever had were straight off the tree in Czechoslovakia (as was, this was many years ago) and she has never replicated the experience since. I am envious of your fresh figs!
Sounds delicious! I love figs in all varieties, fresh, dried, in tarts, in biccies.
this sounds wonderful, a really original caponata and so versatile as a side dish or part of a tapas style lunch. I have moved my blog from working london mummy to this one so Octobers challenge (Pumpkin and Squash) will be from this new site. Do hope you can enter, though I am not sure if it will be seasonal for you in SA!