Fig Frenzy!

Human Highlighter Suit Tally:  7

Figs are the most fragile of fruits.  And, when at their best, incomparable.  But the season is short, and these fruits seem to suffer more than others from mass production and long travel times.  To experience fig perfection, you must eat them in season and perfectly ripe.  And it seems as if there are about 5 minutes in each fig´s life when it is perfect.  When eaten under other conditions, figs are often bland, mushy and flavourless.

Fig season is at its peak in Barcelona, and I’ve never had such good ones.  I´ve been eating them for a few weeks now—mostly just popping them into my mouth, but also in salads, with cheese, on my morning yogurt.  But I can tell that the bounty will not last much longer, and I feel the need to exhaust my appetite so that I will be sated until next fall. I love figs, so I´ve gone a bit overboard this week.  I started my fig marathon with a tart.  The crust has a bit of rosemary in it, which balances the sweetness of the fruit. The recipe, which you can find at Epicurious (search for fresh fig tart with rosemary cornmeal crust and lemon mascarpone cream), says to eat the tart as soon as it is assembled.  We ate half of it after dinner, and I thought it might not keep well and that perhaps I should give the rest to my neighbour Francesca.  But it got late, so we stuck it in the fridge and it was delicious the next morning for breakfast.

I found pomegranates in the market, so remade the salad that contains roasted figs, pine nuts, cabrales cheese (a Spanish blue), and pomegranate.  It was delicious without the pomegranates but even better with.

Next I made a pizza with figs, jamon iberico, cabrales, balsamic and arugula. You bake the whole thing and then mound the dressed arugula on top.  It was like pizza and salad all in one—really fresh and rich all at the same time.  The perfect lunch.

And, I’m also keeping a few extras around, just to pop in my mouth on my way through the kitchen.  Too good.