Figs Punnet 250g

There are few things in the produce section more fleeting or more worth celebrating than a genuinely good fig. The Australian fig season runs from late December through to March and within that window a ripe, perfectly timed fig is one of the great pleasures of summer eating. Deep, jammy and honeyed with a complexity that no other fruit quite matches, it is the kind of thing you eat and remember.

This is a seasonal product in the truest sense. Outside the summer window figs simply are not worth seeking out. But from December through February when Australian crops are at their peak, buy them without hesitation and eat them quickly. They will not wait.

Eat them simply. Halved with fresh ricotta and a drizzle of honey on toasted sourdough, laid over a board with prosciutto, walnuts and a sharp blue cheese, roasted whole with a splash of balsamic and served alongside duck or pork, or eaten straight from the punnet standing at the kitchen bench because sometimes that is the only way. They need very little and reward restraint.

Look for skin that is deeply coloured and slightly soft to the touch. A fig should give gently under your thumb and smell faintly sweet and jammy at the stem. That fragrance is your signal it is ready to eat today. If it smells fermented or sour it has gone too far. If it is firm and shows no give it was picked too early and will not improve. Buy them ripe and eat them the same day or the next for the best experience.