Feigen

Every once in a while we would buy some new exotic fruit from the grocery store, look up online how to cut and eat it, and try it.  In this way we have tried Lychees, Dragon Fruit, Tamarillos, and a variety of other fruits.  One that I never tried were fresh figs.  I eat them dried and love them.  But whenever there would be a few fresh ones at the store they were so expensive especially compared to the packages of dried ones that I never bothered.  I figured it was better to try something I had never had in any form.

Here in Berlin, fresh figs, or Feigen, have become a fall treat for us.  They are in season in Turkey and get shipped here.  You can buy them for most of the year and they are still cheaper than in the US.  However, when it is the height of the season, they reduce in price to about a pound for 3 Euros. 

They make a great quick dinner after a long day of work.  Slice up a fig, put it on some fresh baked bread with some prosciutto and arugula (which the Germans love and eat on everything including pizza) and add some Balsamic vinegar and you have a great sandwich to go with your favorite sides.  I am not a big sandwich-for-dinner person, but these are worth it. 

This summer while back in the states I picked up a Food Network magazine that had several jam and preserve recipes.  One of them was a Fig and Ruby Port Preserve.  I have never been tempted to make my own jam, but this one called to me.  I have had fig jam before at La Femme, a Turkish restaurant near Hermannplatz that makes their own jams to go with their simit rings (sesame bread rings) for breakfast.  I love all of their jams.  Generally they serve strawberry or some other berry, but every once in a while you will get fig instead.

So I went for it.  I bought a few canning jars and a bunch of figs and tried the recipe.  I had to use Tawny Port as it is difficult to find Ruby Port here (3 stores, 2 of them wine stores and still no luck, which is crazy considering they come from Portugal which is in the EU).  I am also pretty sure that the La Femme puts honey in their jam so I traded out about 1/4 a cup of sugar for honey.  Since I tripled the recipe it took about triple the time to cook down, but it was completely worth it.  The preserves were amazing with strong cheese, on scones, and I bet will be the best on vanilla ice cream!  I can't wait till I have time and cheap figs again!