The Joy of Figs

The first joy of figs is eating them fresh off the tree. With our own ‘sugar figs’ along with our neighbours’ spectacular giant old Smyrna fig trees providing an abundance of fruit we are able to extend the pleasure through preserving.
Our guests unanimously vote Fig Jam their favourite so I can never have too many figs.
We select large figs for preserving in sweet syrup, pickling in vinegar, and poaching in verjuice. The bulk of our crop is dried, then reconstituted in sweet or savoury liquid when needed throughout the year for tarts, biscuits, terrines, breakfast compote, alongside roasted meat or as a dessert with cream.

Drying figs is simple, and I think the best flavour comes from leaving them in the sun. We have constructed a drying tent for the purpose, but you can just sit them on a rack on a chair under a net curtain, keeping in mind you need to watch for ants as well as birds and other feisty foragers. The time needed depends on the weather but averages at about five days if it is a warm, dry spot.

We fill the racks in our drying tent, dry still more batches in the oven, and our small electric dryer hums away most of the fig season with each batch taking about 8 hours. Try drying figs whole in the oven on low for a few hours to produce a wonderful semi-dried fig ideal for warm salads.

Caramalised figs are a sweet finish to dinner. I like Jane Grigson’s Fruit Book method of rolling whole figs in castor sugar, place them stem-up snugly in a terrine dish, bake at 230 degrees Celcius until the sugar has browned (15 to 20min). Serve warm with the thickest cream.
McLaren Vale has the soil, sunshine, rain and cool sea breezes at night just right for ripening figs and grapes. Fruit selection for your home preserves uses the same principle as the professional Winemaker. You’re both looking for fully flavour ripe fruit, that is, the fruit flavour is balanced with acid, sugar, and pungency. The best apple jelly, fragrant quince paste, full flavoured fig jam and premium wine all rely on picking the fruit at this peak of ripeness.

Some fruits are robust and forgiving, unlike Riesling grapes and Nectarines where the window of perfect ripeness can be measured in hours. Timing is crucial for making the best quality Riesling. The call for grapes from the winery can come any evening, ‘we want your Riesling by 5am.’ Under the cover of darkness our pick seems like a military manoeuvre.
Harvesting through the night is not unusual, especially for white grapes where the coolness of the night is preferable for reducing oxidation.