The French delight in eating seasonal foods. At the moment it is fig season in the Vaucluse. Strictly speaking it is one of the two fig seasons. The first is in spring when you find the ‘breva’ figs which develop on the previous year’s shoot growth. However, the main fig crop develops on the current year’s shoot growth and it ripens in late summer through autumn.
Our 5 metre fig tree at La Genestiere
Our 5 metre fig tree is groaning under its main crop. Perhaps ‘groaning’ isn’t the right word. However it is certainly making noises as ripe figs drop to earth with a thud. I must rememember to prune the tree hard this winter as there is no way I can reach the figs growing in the crown of the tree.
So far we have made fig jam, spicy fig chutney, and fig and caramelised onion spread. (For the latter I followed a recipe here though I found it needed the addition of salt.)
Caramelised onion and fig spread with goats’ cheese
To my mind, the very best way to eat fresh figs is simply to pick them straight from the tree and serve them on Greek youghurt for breakfast. A great way to start the day.
Every three years Vaison-la-Romaine plays host to over five thousand singers and musicians from all over the world in the ‘Choralies’. No matter that the 2016 Choralie finished last week: there are always impromptu musical performances in Vaison. This gitans quartet entertained Tuesday market-goers with their own infectious brand of manouche jazz. Django and Stéphane would have been proud.
I cooked this dish for a vegetarian guest recently, using locally-sourced vegetables. I didn’t miss meat one little bit.
Roasted vegetable paella
Ingredients for 8 people
250 ml quality olive oil (ideally extra virgin)
600 g paella rice (ideally Bomba)
good quality vegetable stock (3 to 5 times the volume of rice)
1 green pepper
100 gm haricot beans
1 small onion (70 g)
2 ripe tomatoes (tinned will do, as will ready-made passata)
1 red pepper
1 aubergine
2 courgettes
1 fennel bulb
2 cloves of garlic
1 handful of parsley
1 handful of basil
1 dessert spoon of smoked paprika (the sweet variety, not the spicy one)
300 g cherry tomatoes
Slice the aubergines and courgettes into rounds 5mm thick. Halve the fennel bulb from top to bottom. Grill these on a hot barbecue, along with a red pepper. When roasted, remove and set aside. Skin the roasted red pepper by placing it into a sealed plastic bag.
Chop the onion and fry gently in the paella pan for 5 minutes in 125 g olive oil. Add chopped tomatoes or passata and cook gently for a further 5 minutes. Remove from pan and liquidise the onion/tomato mixture.
Add the remaining 125 g olive oil to the paella pan and gently fry the chopped green pepper and chopped haricot beans for 5 minutes, before adding the liquidised onion and tomato mixture. Stir in the rice and cook gently for a few minutes. Sprinkle in the smoked paprika.
Spread the rice mixture evenly over the pan, and add the hot vegetable stock. Add salt as required. (The quantity of stock will depend on variety of rice used and the amount of roasted vegetable used. As a guide, use about 40% more stock than is recommended on the packet because the roasted vegetable will absorb some of the stock.)
Chop the parsley and garlic and sprinkle over the pan. Cook on a rolling boil for about 15 minutes, or until 50% of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Do not stir under any circumstance.
Cut the roasted aubergines, courgettes, and fennel into bite-sized pieces and add to the pan. When nearly all the stock has been absorbed, turn off the heat, add the sliced red peppers, and cover the paella pan with aluminium foil and allow the contents to rest. Before serving, add the sliced cherry tomatoes and basil leaves.
