FIG ICE
by Robert Reynolds
Sometimes English fails me as a language for discussing food. Fig. Ice. Made of figs, but not ice cream. Not sorbet technically, either. It feels fat in the mouth, the way ice cream would, as if it contained eggs. Except it gives a cleaner taste, like a sorbet. It’s a delicious dilemma, flavored with citrus, and sometimes perfumed with herbs, and spot on for fig season.
My Fig ice is actually a by-product of another recipe for canning figs so that I can eat them in the middle of winter. I poach the figs with a little wine or excellent quality grape juice (not from concentrate) sweetened with a little sugar. I also add a piece of orange or lemon rind, and have been known on occasion to add a small stem of mint, thyme or rosemary from the garden.
Once poached, the figs are packed into glass jars, processed, and stored on the shelf until I’m inspired by the taste of August. I discovered that if I puree the figs and their liquid, then freeze them in an ice cream machine, the figs reveal a whole other dimension of pleasure. Serve them with a simple shortbread cookie.
FIG ICE
18 fresh figs, stems intact
½ cup sugar
1 cup of white wine, or good quality juice from grapes
Grated rind of half an orange, or lemon
Optional: small branch of mint, thyme or rosemary
Place the figs in a saucepan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Mix the sugar with the wine or grape juice, add the citrus, and pour into the pan. Add the herb. Bring the mixture to a boil on high heat, turn to a simmer, cover and poach the figs very gently for 20 minutes. Turn the heat off, and allow the figs to cool for another 20 minutes.
Make the ice when the fruit is cool. Discard the herbs, trim the stems, and puree everything in a blender until homogenous. If the mixture is too thick to puree, thin it with additional syrup (half water, half sugar), added by the tablespoon, until the mixture begins to move smoothly in the blender (2 to 4 tablespoons). Remove to the ice cream machine, and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
