Fresh figs, with their edible skins and ripened flesh from October, are reported to be a seasonal dish with historical origins in the international cuisine of Ancient and Classical Greece. This short history of figs sets out the adoration of figs in Greek cuisine, how to dry fresh figs and how to make a fig and almon sweetmeat recipe.
Ancient and Classical Greece Cuisine
Elegant cooks of Ancient Greek society are considered to ahve brought fresh and dried figs to the feasting tables in Athens. Michelle Berriedale-Johnson in her research into the history of food, covering 4,000 years of international cuisine, in The British Museum Cookbook (Abbeville Press, 1987) writes about the shift in Classical Greece cuisince from a diet of roast kid, goat, lamb, sheep and pig meat with freshly baked breads towards a greater sophisication and elegance.
This culinary sophisication and elegance included three course meals or five course family feasts, with desserts and puddings, cakes and sweetmeats such as the international cuisine of honey and nut candies, served at the end. The fig was "according to Alexis of Thurii in the fourth century BC, 'that god-given inheritance of our mother country, darling of my heart, a dried fig' ".
How to Dry Fresh Figs in Abundance in October
In The British Museum Cookbook (Abbeville Press, 1987), Michelle Berriedale-Johnson continues with directions of how to dry a fresh fig: "Cut as many fresh figs as you want to use in half and flatten them as much as possible. Dry them in the sun... or in a very low oven, till the outside is quite dry, but the inside still sticky".
Figgy Nutty Sweetmeat Recipe Using Dried Figs
Ancient Greek cookery can be recreated using dried figs and chopped almonds in a sweetmeat recipe. The directions to prepare this recipe from Ancient Classical Greece international cuisine are straightforward by stuffing the dried figs halves until plump with a chopped almond filling and serve.
Recipes for Fresh Figs
Fresh figs also lend themselves to stuffing and serving as a figgy dessert or final course on a fruit and nut platter. Fresh figs have a stronger flavour intensity when served at room temperature although chilled figs stuffed with walnuts givess a contrasting texture and subtle finish to a meal, perhaps inspired by the luxurious ripe flesh of a fig, an emblem of the elegance of Greek cuisine.
Fresh figs in October are ripe fruits for stuffing and serving as a hot dessert, drying as the core ingredient in a figgy nutty sweetmeat or serving at room temperature, mouthwashingly lush, in a fresh fruit and nut platter to share.
Susan Morris - Susan Morris, Scottish food and drink business manager, organic gardener, author and editor
