Doce de Figo Verde

Brazilian whole green fig preserve in lime and sugar syrup

Origin: São Paulo State, Brazil

From the journey of Fig.

Doce de figo verde (green fig sweet) is one of the most distinctive and beloved preparations in Brazilian confectionery: a preserve made not from ripe figs but from small, hard, fully green, under-ripe figs cooked slowly in a lime-acidulated sugar syrup until they become translucent. The colour transformation from opaque green to almost jade-clear is one of the most visually remarkable things that happens in a Brazilian kitchen, and the resulting preserve, intensely sweet, slightly tart from the lime, with the fig's mild, grassy character barely present beneath the sugar, is one of the great Brazilian doces — the category of sweet preserves that encompasses everything from marmalades to crystallised fruits. The technique exploits a fact about the unripe fig: its firm, starchy flesh, which would be bitter and unappealing raw, is transformed by long, slow cooking in sugar into something soft, dense, and translucent. Portuguese colonists brought the fig to Brazil during the colonial period; by the 19th century, fig cultivation was established in the cooler highlands of São Paulo state and Minas Gerais, where the summer heat and altitude combined to produce prodigious fig crops. The domestic response to this abundance (the urgent need to preserve a fruit that spoils within days of picking) produced the doce de figo verde tradition. It is eaten with queijo minas, the fresh white Brazilian cheese whose mild, slightly salty character is the ideal foil for the intensely sweet doce: the classic Brazilian pairing of doce com queijo (sweet with cheese).

Ingredients

Figs

  • 1 kg small green (unripe) figs, stems trimmed to 1cm

Pre-treatment

  • 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda

Syrup

  • 700 g white sugar
  • 500 ml water
  • 3 limes, juice and finely grated zest
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick

Method

  1. Score each fig with a very shallow cross-cut at the base (not the stem end): just enough to pierce the skin. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in 1 litre of cold water in a large bowl. Add the scored figs and leave to soak for 12 hours or overnight.
  2. Drain the soaked figs and rinse thoroughly under cold running water. Drain again.
  3. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Blanch the drained figs for 3 minutes, then drain and refresh under cold water. This step removes any remaining bitterness.
  4. Combine the sugar and water in a wide, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the lime juice, lime zest, cloves, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is fully dissolved.
  5. Add the blanched figs to the simmering syrup. Reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer. Cook uncovered for 60 to 70 minutes, turning the figs occasionally with great care, until they have become translucent throughout and the syrup has thickened.
  6. Remove from the heat. Leave to cool and rest in the syrup for at least 2 hours.
  7. Spoon into sterilised glass jars with their syrup, discarding the cloves and cinnamon stick. Seal and store in a cool, dark place. Refrigerate once opened.
  8. Serve at room temperature with generous slices of queijo minas (Brazilian fresh white cheese) or ricotta.

Notes

The bicarbonate of soda soaking step is traditional and important: without it, the latex in unripe figs produces an unpleasant bitterness and a slightly sticky mouthfeel. The lime (not lemon) is characteristic of the Brazilian version of this preserve: the lime's slightly more resinous, tropical acidity is different from the lemon and complements the fig. If fresh green figs are difficult to find, this preserve cannot be made with ripe or dried figs: the entire character of the dish depends on the unripe fruit's firm, starchy flesh.

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