Fresh figs with goat cheese

Golden autumn is approaching. If I could choose, I would rather pick spring and summer. Fresh figs. I pick fresh figs with goat cheese. I wish to keep some of this summer with this fresh figs and goat cheese, just for a little bit longer.

Figs glimmer on the market as some kind of a ‘reminder’ of the summer in its full glory. Unfortunately, I couldn’t compare them to the ones I buy on the sea, down there by the Mediterranean coast. When figs leave the markets, it represents the arrival of that golden autumn from the beginning.

Sorts of figs

I would compare them by their color. Ones are darker, more of a purple kind, the others are lighter, or green.

However, if we’re talking about real fig species, then it looks something like this: white petrovaca, rezavica (the purple one), then bjelusa in Croatia, zamorcica, etc. The most frequent species in world are: black mission (dark purple skin with pinkish flesh), kadota (green with dark red flesh), calymirna (yellow-green skin), Adriatic (these are the ones already mentioned, which are often dried and consumed as dried fruits).

For our need, without excess information, it is more than enough to differentiate them by their color, and not think that the green ones aren’t ripe yet. J They grow on Ficus (not the one from the flower pot), and are classified as Morus (they are of a similar color). Both have thin and soft skin and very sweet pinkish-red flesh.

Figs from the Belgrade markets vs. Mediterranean figs

A lot was invested in fresh figs this year, and so was in fresh figs with goat cheese. And we eat some goat cheese here and here. It’s healthy, so it is a must :).

Anyway, I can’t judge which ones were better. They were all great, and I had already eaten the best of them.

Kefalonian figs:

Lefkada figs:

Figs from Belgrade market:

A sweet way to regulate your body weight

Now, in order to motivate ourselves to eat figs, there is something else about figs: apart from the standard benefits to health such as potassium, blood pressure regulating minerals, figs also have diet fibers. Other fruit with that kind of fibers are apples, date palms, pears and plums.

Also, in some cultures, they prepare fig leaves. Fig leaves contain antidiabetic properties.

That is why you should start eating a lot of fresh figs, since they only have 75 calories in 100 grams.

How to buy and keep them?

You should get them a day or two before you plan to prepare them. I choose figs with deep and rich color, soft, but not squishy. They should have a strong petal without any changes in texture and color, if possible, and that depends on the transportation. It is important to smell them, and if they have a soft and sweet smell, without any ripe smell which would indicate they have gone off, or that they’ve been kept for a long time, I buy them. I keep them in the fridge, where they would keep their freshness for the next two days (although they never last that long in my fridge). You can keep them in a shallow dish or on a paper napkin, but covered, so that they wouldn’t dry.

Additional ideas for preparation

According to some legends, fresh figs were Cleopatra’s favorite fruit, and allegedly the Greek worshiped them to such an extent that they gave them as an award on the Olympic Games.

Cleopatra used to eat them alone, and we are going to mix things up a little bit:

1. Oatmeal in combination with dried or fresh figs.
2. Poshed figs (for a short time) in red wine, or with Greek yogurt or ice cream, or we can even go that far to put it in addition to a meat dish.
3. Salad: rocket salad, prosciutto (or crispy bacon), balsamic vinegar, parmesan, a real treat for all senses. Be sure to try it out!
4. Sauce prepared of orange juice, some ginger and star-shaped anise
5. Tapenade made of roasted figs, olives, caper, rosemary and balsamic vinegar, which is a great combination with lamb.

Fresh figs with goat cheese

The tastiest figs were the one with goat cheese and chocolate sin:

A spread made of goat cheese can be bought already made in a shop (for example KOZARI manufacturer), or you can simply prepare your own with soft goat cheese (best cheese can be found on market) and simple cheaper cheese spread.

Best option for bread is rye bread, and you can toast it for a more rustic flavor.

If you are not ‘sinful’, you can chop some almonds instead of chocolate.

Enjoy while there are still some figs left, and afterwards, we are going to use dried ones.