Figues Rôties au Fromage de Chèvre

Name: Figues Rôties au Fromage de Chèvre
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 22 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 8 ripe fresh figs (Bourjassotte Noire, Violette de Bordeaux, or Black Mission), halved; 200 g fresh chèvre (soft French goat's cheese), at room temperature; 3 tbsp lavender honey or other good aromatic honey; 2 tbsp good olive oil (Provençal if possible); 6 sprigs fresh thyme; 0.25 tsp flaky sea salt (fleur de sel if available); 0.25 tsp freshly ground black pepper; Toasted walnuts or pine nuts, to scatter (optional); Good rustic bread or baguette, to serve

Provençal oven-roasted figs with fresh chèvre, thyme, and lavender honey

Origin: Provence, France

From the journey of Fig.

Provence is the northernmost limit of serious fig cultivation in France: the sheltered coastal valleys of the Var and Bouches-du-Rhône departments, warm enough for two crops in a good year, produce some of the finest fresh figs in Europe. The town of Solliès-Pont, inland from Toulon, is the undisputed centre of the French fig industry, and the Bourjassotte Noire (known commercially as the 'Figue de Solliès') received an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée in 2011: the first and still the only PDO designation for a fresh fig in France. The Provençal kitchen treats its figs with the directness characteristic of a cuisine whose ingredients require nothing added beyond quality and the correct moment of ripeness. Figues rôties au fromage de chèvre — roasted figs with goat's cheese — is the preparation that appears most consistently across Provençal bistrot menus in August and September: halved figs caramelised under high heat, served with the local fresh chèvre (whose acidity and cool creaminess are the ideal counterpoint to the fig's sweetness), thyme from the hillsides, and a drizzle of lavender honey. The lavender honey, produced from the hives placed among the lavender fields of the Vaucluse plateau, is the most intensely aromatic honey in France: floral, slightly medicinal, and unmistakably Provençal.

Ingredients

Figs

8 ripe fresh figs (Bourjassotte Noire, Violette de Bordeaux, or Black Mission), halved

Cheese

200 g fresh chèvre (soft French goat's cheese), at room temperature

Dressing

3 tbsp lavender honey or other good aromatic honey
2 tbsp good olive oil (Provençal if possible)

Herb

6 sprigs fresh thyme

Seasoning

0.25 tsp flaky sea salt (fleur de sel if available)
0.25 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Garnish

Toasted walnuts or pine nuts, to scatter (optional)

To serve

Good rustic bread or baguette, to serve

Method

Heat the oven grill (broiler) to its highest setting, or preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan).
Arrange the halved figs cut-side up in a single layer in a baking dish or on an oven-proof plate. Drizzle with one tablespoon of the honey and the olive oil. Scatter the thyme sprigs over and around the figs.
Roast under the grill for 10 to 12 minutes (or in the hot oven for 12 to 15 minutes) until the cut surfaces of the figs are caramelised and beginning to colour at the edges. The figs should be soft throughout but still holding their shape.
While the figs roast, remove the chèvre from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature.
Transfer the roasted figs to a serving plate. Spoon or crumble the chèvre alongside and around the figs.
Drizzle the remaining honey over both the figs and the cheese. Season with flaky sea salt and black pepper.
Scatter the fresh thyme leaves (stripped from the roasted sprigs and the remaining fresh sprigs) over the plate. Add toasted walnuts or pine nuts if using. Serve immediately with bread.

Notes

The quality of the chèvre matters enormously. Look for a fresh, young goat's log (bûche de chèvre) with a clean, bright acidity and a creamy texture; the commercial 'goat's cheese' sold in plastic tubs is too mild and too soft for this preparation. Lavender honey is available from Provençal, Spanish, and some English specialist producers; if unavailable, a good thyme honey is the closest substitute. The dish can be served as a warm starter, a light lunch with a salad, or a cheese course. It is equally good on slices of toasted sourdough as on baguette.

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control