Whole Green Fig Preserve
Following my recipe for fig jam online, I was contacted by a very nice guy called John Titterton who said:
I noticed your blog update with the fig jam recipe and thought I would pass this recipe on to you. It is made using green figs - harvested just before they ripen on the tree. The preserved figs are best eaten with a nice soft cheese such as Brie or Camembert, but are also good with some harder cheeses. Maybe even a nice home smoked cheese and crackers!
The recipe was from my father, who used to make a few hundred bottles at a time and passed to me after his death. I make a batch every year if I am at home, but they do not last too long!
Regards,
John Titterton
Cape Town, South Africa.
Regrettably, the file he attached became corrupted when I lost a lot of my emails, and with one thing and another, it's taken this long for me to be able to put John's dad's recipe online.
Whole Green Fig Preserve
Ingredients:
100 green figs
2 tablespoons bicarbonate of soda
3.4 litres water
Method:
- Scrub the figs and cut a cross into the end opposite the stalk.
- Mix the water and bicarbonate of soda and soak the figs overnight.
- Remove from the water and weigh the figs, recording the weight.
- Place into clean boiling water and boil for 15 minutes or until soft.
- Drain and then dry the figs well, removing excess water.
- For each 500g figs or part thereof, mix 500ml water with 500g sugar.
- Boil the syrup until it just starts to thicken.
- Add the figs and boil until the syrup is thick.
- Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice for each 250g figs and just bring to the boil again before removing from the heat and letting cool.
- Bottle the figs and cover with the syrup.
Note 1: If the syrup froths whilst boiling, add a small lump of butter.
Note 2: A small stick of ginger can be added during the boiling process to add a slightly different flavour.
Many thanks John.
Thank you for this recipe