In reply to K ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

p.k. writes
Steve Wolstenholme wrote:


I went off figs when I read about the way they are pollinated.



Why?

The flowers are inside what we know as the fig. They are pollinated by
wasps which enter the fig, and the fig and the wasps have co-evolved
into an intricate interweaving of life stages, whereby the fig
produces I think 3 different types of flower in the year, to adapt to
different stages of the wasp lifecycle. If I remember correctly, at
one stage the male wasps live their whole life in the fig ... but it
is very complicated and I may be misremembering.

Wow!

I am intrigued now. Figs are best raw IMHO, unless they are green in which
case they are best tinned.

On Oct 17, 2:12Â*pm, Sacha wrote:
Ray has just brought in a 3l. plant pot half filled with ripe figs. Â*The
other half has gone to one of the family!
We have friends coming to dinner tomorrow night and I'm going to make the
following recipe but wonder what others do to cook figs?

Roast Figs with Cinnamon, Thyme and Honey by Tamasin Day Lewis

Â* Â* € Â* Â*Servings: 6
Â* Â* € Â* Â*Level of difficulty: Easy
Â* Â* € Â* Â*Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Â* Â* € Â* Â*Cooking Time: 20 minutes, plus standing
Ingredients
Â* Â* € Â* Â*3 tbsp clear honey, such as orange blossom or acacia
Â* Â* € Â* Â*walnut-sized knob of Butter
Â* Â* € Â* Â*1 tbsp orange liqueur
Â* Â* € Â* Â*1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Â* Â* € Â* Â*12 ripe figs
Â* Â* € Â* Â*1 tsp Thyme

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5.

2. Put the honey, butter, liqueur and cinnamon in a small saucepan. Heat
gently, stirring, until liquid.

3. Using a small, sharp knife, make a cut like a cross in the top of each
fig, cutting almost down to the base.

4. Place them upright in a roasting pan, splaying them out shamelessly as
you go. Pour the liquid over each one. Roast for 15 minutes.

5. Sprinkle a bit of thyme over each fig. Return to the oven, switch it off,
leaving the door ajar. Leave the figs in the oven for 5-10 minutes before
serving.

--
Sachahttp://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Another way is to serve two per person as a starter. Slit in the
middle like a jacket potato, squeeze to open slit and insert a slice
of Mottzarella chesse, drizze with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Decorate the plate with water cress, it was gorgeous when we had over
40 to lunch and very easy to prepare.

Judith

On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:16:38 +0100, "Uncle Marvo"
wrote:

In reply to K ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

p.k. writes
Steve Wolstenholme wrote:


I went off figs when I read about the way they are pollinated.



Why?

The flowers are inside what we know as the fig. They are pollinated by
wasps which enter the fig, and the fig and the wasps have co-evolved
into an intricate interweaving of life stages, whereby the fig
produces I think 3 different types of flower in the year, to adapt to
different stages of the wasp lifecycle. If I remember correctly, at
one stage the male wasps live their whole life in the fig ... but it
is very complicated and I may be misremembering.

Wow!

I am intrigued now. Figs are best raw IMHO, unless they are green in which
case they are best tinned.



All colours of figs are fab raw when very, very ripened in lots of
sunshine. Tinned or dried figs are a pale, pale shadow of the genuine
article.
Also, they should *always* be opened *before* eating - don't bite into
an unopened one, or be prepared for a potential surprise.

Cat(h)

In reply to Cat(h) ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:16:38 +0100, "Uncle Marvo"
wrote:

In reply to K ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

p.k. writes
Steve Wolstenholme wrote:


I went off figs when I read about the way they are pollinated.



Why?

The flowers are inside what we know as the fig. They are pollinated
by wasps which enter the fig, and the fig and the wasps have
co-evolved into an intricate interweaving of life stages, whereby
the fig produces I think 3 different types of flower in the year,
to adapt to different stages of the wasp lifecycle. If I remember
correctly, at one stage the male wasps live their whole life in the
fig ... but it is very complicated and I may be misremembering.

Wow!

I am intrigued now. Figs are best raw IMHO, unless they are green in
which case they are best tinned.



All colours of figs are fab raw when very, very ripened in lots of
sunshine. Tinned or dried figs are a pale, pale shadow of the genuine
article.
Also, they should *always* be opened *before* eating - don't bite into
an unopened one, or be prepared for a potential surprise.

Cat(h)

I've always wondered about those crunchy figs ...

On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:47:57 +0100, "Uncle Marvo"
wrote:




All colours of figs are fab raw when very, very ripened in lots of
sunshine. Tinned or dried figs are a pale, pale shadow of the genuine
article.
Also, they should *always* be opened *before* eating - don't bite into
an unopened one, or be prepared for a potential surprise.

Cat(h)

I've always wondered about those crunchy figs ...


Hey, you get one of your 5-a-day and extra protein in one bite. That's
got to be good.

Cat(h)

On 18 Oct, 12:47, "Uncle Marvo"
wrote:
I've always wondered about those crunchy figs ..

I eat mine with foie gras or in a Salade Perigourdine, just like
me ;o)

Did you know .... " If you're willing to put your prejudices aside,
there can be plenty of variety in insect-eating. Earthworms are 70%
protein and soaking them in water overnight will purge them of soil.
Ants have a vinegary taste; in countries such as Thailand ant juice is
sometimes substituted for recipes that call for lemon. Honey bees, a
worldwide favourite, are edible at all stages of growth, larval, pupal
and adult. Boiling breaks down the poison in their stingers. Moths are
said to taste like almonds and have the advantage of being easy to
catch with a bright light. Termites are second only to grasshoppers as
the most commonly eaten insect and in Nigeria you can buy termite
stock cubes. Fly larvae - or maggots - are rich in calories and
protein. Scoop them off decomposed meat, wash in cold water, boil and
they're ready to eat. 'In the natural, they are easy to capture and
often found in clusters in such places as road kill,' advises one
source. Crickets can be an excellent and healthy alternative to meat.
100g of crickets contains 12g of protein and only 5.5g of fat. 100g of
beef has more protein - 18 percent - but also has 18 percent fat."

Bon appetit ....

On 18/10/07 11:57, in article
, "judith.lea"
wrote:

snip


Another way is to serve two per person as a starter. Slit in the
middle like a jacket potato, squeeze to open slit and insert a slice
of Mottzarella chesse, drizze with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Decorate the plate with water cress, it was gorgeous when we had over
40 to lunch and very easy to prepare.

Judith


That's definitely one for the recipe file! The easier the better AFAIC!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

In reply to ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

On 18 Oct, 12:47, "Uncle Marvo"
wrote:
I've always wondered about those crunchy figs ..

I eat mine with foie gras or in a Salade Perigourdine, just like
me ;o)

Did you know .... " If you're willing to put your prejudices aside,
there can be plenty of variety in insect-eating. Earthworms are 70%
protein and soaking them in water overnight will purge them of soil.
Ants have a vinegary taste; in countries such as Thailand ant juice is
sometimes substituted for recipes that call for lemon. Honey bees, a
worldwide favourite, are edible at all stages of growth, larval, pupal
and adult. Boiling breaks down the poison in their stingers. Moths are
said to taste like almonds and have the advantage of being easy to
catch with a bright light. Termites are second only to grasshoppers as
the most commonly eaten insect and in Nigeria you can buy termite
stock cubes. Fly larvae - or maggots - are rich in calories and
protein. Scoop them off decomposed meat, wash in cold water, boil and
they're ready to eat. 'In the natural, they are easy to capture and
often found in clusters in such places as road kill,' advises one
source. Crickets can be an excellent and healthy alternative to meat.
100g of crickets contains 12g of protein and only 5.5g of fat. 100g of
beef has more protein - 18 percent - but also has 18 percent fat."

Bon appetit ....

I've had ants, a bloke bought them back for the mysterious East in a packet,
like we'd have a packet of peanuts. They were roasted in some sort of
coating, mainly sugar I think. Crunchy.

I couldn't really enjoy them, it was more the novelty value.

In reply to Sacha ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

On 18/10/07 11:57, in article
, "judith.lea"
wrote:

snip


Another way is to serve two per person as a starter. Slit in the
middle like a jacket potato, squeeze to open slit and insert a slice
of Mottzarella chesse, drizze with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Decorate the plate with water cress, it was gorgeous when we had over
40 to lunch and very easy to prepare.

Judith


That's definitely one for the recipe file! The easier the better
AFAIC!

If I get 40 people they can have the jacket potato. Have you seen the price
of figs?

:-)

On 18/10/07 14:00, in article , "Uncle
Marvo" wrote:

snip

If I get 40 people they can have the jacket potato. Have you seen the price
of figs?

:-)


No. I don't need to. ;-)))

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

My favourite way is to slit the top and stuff a bit of goats chess in each
fig. Then wrap the whole thing in parma ham and bake in the oven. I then get
some raspberry vinegar and reduce it in a pan until thick and sticky and
serve the figs with some of the vinegar drizzled over and around. Yum yum.
Mel.

"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
On 18/10/07 14:00, in article , "Uncle
Marvo" wrote:

snip

If I get 40 people they can have the jacket potato. Have you seen the
price
of figs?

:-)


No. I don't need to. ;-)))

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Pam Moore writes
On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:12:40 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

Ray has just brought in a 3l. plant pot half filled with ripe figs. The
other half has gone to one of the family!

Lucky you!
I have over a dozen figs still on my plant, all only about walnut
size, hard and green. Is there anything I can do with them?

No

Do they
stand a chance of ripening now?

No, certainly not if the fig is outdoors.

Will they ripen indoors if picked?

No, because they haven't yet grown to full size.


--
Kay

Mogga writes
On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 22:22:32 GMT, Pam Moore
wrote:

On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:12:40 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

Ray has just brought in a 3l. plant pot half filled with ripe figs. The
other half has gone to one of the family!

Lucky you!
I have over a dozen figs still on my plant, all only about walnut
size, hard and green. Is there anything I can do with them? Do they
stand a chance of ripening now? Will they ripen indoors if picked?
Otherwise, I shall just have to sacrifice them and hope for more
sunshine next summer.


Waitrose site seems to say not.

I read the other week that only 14 fruits don't ripen once you've
picked them... Anyone got a list?

Found: Fruits that don't ripen further at home include berries, citrus
fruit,

That's wrong, surely? Lemons turn from green to yellow.

grapes, and pineapples and figs...

--
Kay

On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:57:02 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

On 17/10/07 23:22, in article ,
"Pam Moore" wrote:

On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:12:40 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

Ray has just brought in a 3l. plant pot half filled with ripe figs. The
other half has gone to one of the family!

Lucky you!
I have over a dozen figs still on my plant, all only about walnut
size, hard and green. Is there anything I can do with them? Do they
stand a chance of ripening now? Will they ripen indoors if picked?
Otherwise, I shall just have to sacrifice them and hope for more
sunshine next summer.

Pam in Bristol

I wouldn't be hopeful, Pam. I think they sound too tiny to ripen. I think
we must hope for more sun next year. And Ray tells me that I was wrong
about which fig tree we have these fruits from. The ones he picked *are*
Brown Turkey and the one in our courtyard is Brunswick. Brown Turkey is 'up
the field' and has a lot of sunshine, while Brunswick gets the warmth of the
courtyard wall and paving but is in shade some of the day.

Thanks for the advice. I don't know what variety mine is, but it has
produced well in its second year, with a fruit at every leaf joint
now, though sadly it looks as if they will be wasted now. I've had
about 6. (and a half, after slugs or snails had had the other half!)

Pam in Bristol

On 18/10/07 23:26, in article ,
"Pam Moore" wrote:

On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:57:02 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

On 17/10/07 23:22, in article ,
"Pam Moore" wrote:

On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:12:40 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

Ray has just brought in a 3l. plant pot half filled with ripe figs. The
other half has gone to one of the family!

Lucky you!
I have over a dozen figs still on my plant, all only about walnut
size, hard and green. Is there anything I can do with them? Do they
stand a chance of ripening now? Will they ripen indoors if picked?
Otherwise, I shall just have to sacrifice them and hope for more
sunshine next summer.

Pam in Bristol

I wouldn't be hopeful, Pam. I think they sound too tiny to ripen. I think
we must hope for more sun next year. And Ray tells me that I was wrong
about which fig tree we have these fruits from. The ones he picked *are*
Brown Turkey and the one in our courtyard is Brunswick. Brown Turkey is 'up
the field' and has a lot of sunshine, while Brunswick gets the warmth of the
courtyard wall and paving but is in shade some of the day.

Thanks for the advice. I don't know what variety mine is, but it has
produced well in its second year, with a fruit at every leaf joint
now, though sadly it looks as if they will be wasted now. I've had
about 6. (and a half, after slugs or snails had had the other half!)

Pam in Bristol

Oh, bad luck but.....that may be 6 more than others have managed this year.
;-(


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'