Use our favorite recipes to highlight figs in all their seasonal splendor, from sweet cakes, puddings, and pies to savory cheese pairings, salads, and pizzas.
Figs have a distinct flavor and texture, with slightly chewy flesh that is flecked with tiny, crunchy seeds. They are smooth-skinned and deliciously sweet. Their high sugar content blends beautifully with flavors that are also potent, giving savory dishes a burst of sweetness and giving sweet treats a unique texture and aroma. Advertisement.
What Do Figs Go Well With?
Goat cheese, blue cheese, bacon, prosciutto, pears, oranges, peaches, raspberries, red wine, balsamic vinegar, or sherry vinegar, honey, puff pastry, caramel, vanilla, black pepper, olive oil, rosemary, cinnamon, cardamom, almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts are all delicious combinations with figs.
The flesh of the figs are actually tiny flowers. What makes it interesting is that it needs the assistance of these wasps to complete the task for them because it blooms internally.
The female wasps then lay eggs. The male wasps’ task is to create tunnels so that the young female wasps can leave the fig. The cycle then continues as the female wasps spread the pollen to find new figs.
Contrary to popular belief, figs are not fruits. They are actually seeds and inverted flowers that a species of tiny wasps pollinates. Mind blown? Totally!.
Figs grow on trees that prefer dry, sunny locations. They are members of the mulberry family and can be consumed fresh or dried, both of which are equally popular.
It’s crucial to handle the fruit gently when picking it up because they are prone to bruises. When choosing your figs, be sure to examine each one carefully before buying because this delicate fruit spoils easily.
There is undoubtedly more to pepper than meets the tongue — or, we suppose, the eye. It has a flavor that is pleasantly piercing and gives the sweetness of figs a sharp edge.
The sugary, syrupy flavor of figs makes them an excellent match for use with spices that are more warming. Figs and other fruits go well with allspice, so it should be high on your list of spices to try. Its sharp flavor penetrates the sweetness.
Sweet by itself can become sickening. However, if you add a strong citrus flavor, like that of cardamom, your figs will taste much more interesting.
Rosemary has a potent flavor with hints of nutmeg and woodiness. It would aid in balancing the sweet with hints of sharpness, much like nutmeg.
We believe that cloves will also work with figs because allspice does. They taste sharper than cinnamon and will complement your figs.