AN ABUNDANCE OF FIGS
Two years ago when Barbara Buchannan offered to become my companion for five months and assist me like a member of the WWOOF organization, it was her tales of sun-ripened figs that made her European friends envious. She told them of her pleasure in standing under the tree shown below, choosing sun warmed fruit that almost melted in her mouth.
Sun ripened figs
When I established our garden at Das Helwig Haus B&B I planted four fig trees of different varieties. Ian Robertson, CEO of the Australian Open Garden Scheme, congratulated me in 1997 for choosing to use a fig tree as a specimen tree to add texture and color within our floral garden. During our cold winter months on the Granite Belt the bare branches give a surrealistic view on a foggy morning and emphasis the Japanese influence in the design of this portion of my garden.
Fig tree amongst flowers
Every year this particular tree yields buckets of small, dark skinned, red fleshed, sweet figs. Every year we eat fresh figs, I make fig jam, I dry figs and I preserve figs in syrup as a dessert. This small fig variety is not readily available from plant nurseries. I was given a sucker to grow by one of the Italian born farmers on the Granite Belt. The sucker flourished and grew into a decorative and productive tree.
To dry figs they may be sliced in half and placed cut sides down in the tray of a dehydrator. I’ve prepared them in this way for many years.
Drying figs
The Italian born farmers on the Granite Belt dry figs and tread them into strings which are worn around the neck during winter months for a nourishing snack when working the fields.
Recognizing that I chop up most of my dried figs before including them in cakes or breakfast muesli, I decided to try a different method of preservation this season. This year they were chopped into small pieces prior to drying and I tried dehydrating them on low heat on baking trays in my fan forced, electric oven. If you do this, I suggest you leave the oven door slightly ajar to dispel steam. How long it takes to dry the figs will depend on how many you are drying at any given time. I would place mine in the oven overnight and then the next morning decide if they need extra drying time.
Oven dried figs
An unusual way to preserve figs is to make up a syrup of 1 glass honey blended with 2 glasses of white wine. Place this syrup in a saucepan and add firm, almost ripe figs, after trimming stems. Simmer the fruit in this liquid until the figs are soft and plump. Remove the cooked figs with a slotted spoon and place them in preserving jars, before pouring over the syrup and sealing the jar. This is a great standby dessert to serve out of season with ice-cream.
Figs in wine and honey
Figs served with ice-cream
