Folio
Plant Food
"Figs have been one of my favourite fruits since I ditched apple puree as a toddler. I was always fascinated by the subtle appearance in light green or deep purple, slowly revealing its true colours, while you rip them in half, its flesh mirroring your longing to bite into it. They can be tiny and full, enjoyed solo with a drizzle of salt or alongside soft cheese or baked in a galette. Picking a fresh but undeniably ripe one off a mediterranean tree is the ultimate joy.
Lately, the often forgotten greens, made its way into the culinary limelight. Getting the flavour of fig leaves, already auspicious in their shape, requires a tiny bit more work, but it will be rewarded with a tropical complexity, a golden-green oil, that you might want to put on everything - fresh milk ice cream, grilled peaches at the barbecue, raw and fresh fish, fig itself, pretty much everything you want in summer; except your crisp white shirt dress."
— Zsuzsanna Toth
28.08.22
FIG LEAF OIL
When picking fig leaves, make sure you go for the large, green, healthy ones, not too mature but fully grown.
I never use exact measurements, but around 5 fig leaves per cup of neutral organic (rapeseed or sunflower) oil should be ideal.
In a pot, briefly blanch the leaves in some boiling water to enhance and preserve colour, then transfer them into an ice water both. Strain all the water and add them with the oil, a squeeze of lemon and a small ice cube to your blender (any kind should work, preferably not a stick though). Let the mix infuse before straining it through a cheesecloth or very fine sieve.
Keep in fridge, freeze in a zip lock for a couple of months, or drizzle away.