fig lover

With figs you’re either all in or all out. There’s no half way.

You must bite right through the blue flesh that bleeds milky white when it’s just ripe; into the honey-colored fruit inside that glistens and aches to be eaten. There's no way around it.

Once I served a platter of figs and prosciutto to a guest who insisted on eating out the heart of the fruit and leaving the skins on his plate.

He wasn’t asked back.

Fresh Fig Salad
12 ripe Mission figs
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp honey
a fistful of raw walnut halves
a clutch of fresh mint leaves
freshly ground black pepper

Cut the figs into quarters and place on a platter. Combine oil, juices and honey in a small bowl: beat lightly.

Drizzle dressing over the figs as they lie belly up on the platter; toss gently. Crush the walnuts, tear the mint; sprinkle on top with a crack of fresh pepper.

Serve to guests and politely field questions about the "little eggplants."

Freely interpreted from Viana LaPlace’s « Unplugged Kitchen »

[Photo credit: Figs for Lunch by Xerones]