Preserved Figs

A fantastic recipe for using this abundant summer fruit. I adore figs, cheese and biscuits after a light meal, but this is equally good for breakfast with crusty french bread and a plunger of coffee.



800g green figs

Brine:
2 tablespoons salt
4 cups of water

Mix the salt and water. Scrape the figs with a sharp knife and leave figs in the water solution overnight. Drain.

Bring a pot of fresh water to the boil. Add the figs. Cover with a thick layer of fig leaves, to preserve the colour, and boil uncovered for 8 - 10 minutes, until just tender.
Rinse the figs immediately under cold water and make a deep cut (but not all the way through) on the flower end (not the stem side).

Syrup:
1 kg of sugar
6 cups of water
1 thumb of ginger, peeled and sliced
juice of half a large lemon

Boil all ingredients for syrup except lemon juice. Add figs and cook on a medium heat for about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, uncovered, until they are steeped in the syrup and syrup has thickened a bit. Add the lemon juice after it has cooked for 1 hour (for last stage).

Bottle while hot. Now you have figs, glorious figs, all winter long.





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