Fig Leaves

[Tom Gengo]

My fig tree has rendered all of it's fruit for the production of fig preserves, fig mostardo, a fig galette, a fig tart w/ lemon cream (The Professional Pastry Chef, Bo Friberg) and about 12 pounds of vac sealed frozen little nuggets of nirvana.

However, as I am a relentless task master, I am looking for more from my tree. Don't want to cut the wood, although certainly it would make a fantastic bacon when smoked. I am left only w/ the leaves.

I have read that the leaves can be used for dolmades, but how are the leaves treated? Brined first? What about the "latex" for sensitive individuals? Heard about fish wrapped in the leaves, but looking for other tried & true recipes. Let me know what you FIGure out...

[mkayahara]

Linda at Playing with Fire and Water has a series of posts up about fig leaves; you might want to check it out. I think the first one is here.

Edited to add: It looks like she blanches them before using them to wrap things.

Edited September 9, 2010 by mkayahara (log)

[Landru]

You are correct about wrapping fish in the leaves and baking/smoking them gives the fish a nice coconut flavor. Don't really need a recipe - just do it!

I've also made a fig leaf liqueur which came out fabulous. Though I do wonder as well about the latex so I don't give it to my friends :0).

[djyee100]

I was flipping thru Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food, and this paragraph caught my eye, in a the Baked Wild Salmon recipe:

If you have access to fresh fig leaves, this is a must. Although the leaf is not eaten, it suffuses the fish with a delightful coconut aroma. Season and oil the salmon fillets, wrap each piece in a clean fig leaf, and bake..

Bake in a 425 degree oven. Or you can grill the wrapped fish too. In this recipe the cooked fish is garnished with a dollop of herb butter.

In a recent workshop I attended, Victoria Wise demo'd sausage wrapped & grilled in fig leaves. This is my sketch in my notes. The sketch doesn't look that much like a fig leaf, so pls use your imagination.

-- Place the fig leaf on a board, the stem pointing towards you. Place some meat, fish, or other filling in the center of the leaf.

(1) and (2) Fold in the sides of the leaf over the filling.

(3) Poke a small hole in the top part of the leaf, then fold over the filling. Push the stem thru the hole. It should stick and hold the roll together like a toothpick.

The recipe for the Turkish lamb sausage, served with fig marmalade, is on Googlebooks, page 97. Scroll down for a pic.

http://books.google.com/books?id=ABkfNxwy708C&pg=PA97&lpg=PA97&dq=victoria+wise+turkish+lamb+sausage+with+fig&source=bl&ots=9fMzgwPRpo&sig=7B0zaY0s1Lli0XMurKyrX6PNTmo&hl=en&ei=p8KJTK_PLY_4sAOkhJS9BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

If you really want to do something different, try making Fig Teleme cheese, by the "ancient method," in Paula Wolfert's Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking. The two ingredients are: 1 quart goat's milk and "1 freshly cut fleshy 8- to 9-inch branch from a yellow fig tree with 1 slightly underripe yellow fig attached." The second ingredient is a hurdle for most people, but not for you. The fig tree sap and the unripe fig ferment the goat's milk to produce a mild cheese.

The recipe is on Googlebooks, page 285 in the cookbook:

http://books.google.com/books?id=nSs7ntO2f5IC&pg=PT368&lpg=PT368&dq=paula+wolfert+fig+teleme+ancient+method&source=bl&ots=MPVysCp-mx&sig=wyfki9p50Zn_br5L69O58Zna4qg&hl=en&ei=nsSJTIH2GoiesQPkvYyTBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

If you make this cheese, pls let us know how it goes.

[andiesenji]

I have a fairly long list of sites with ideas of what to do with fig leaves.

A couple of years ago I was gifted with a basket of fresh fig leaves and some ideas from the friend who brought them. (Also some links.)

I looked up more on my own and have added two or three as I discovered them.

I've made the Trinidadian Pastelles, the Quail with fennel and fig leaves and apricots baked in fig leaves. Also goat cheese wrapped in fig leaves and grilled.

I now I did something else with them but it escapes me at the moment

One post on a blog suggests using fig leaves for a tisane or tea.

They should be from trees that have not been sprayed with pesticides or fungicides.

Rather than post all the links (13) here, I will PM you with the list.

I have been served rumaki wrapped in strips of fig leaves. I have also eaten Greet sykomaitha - fig cakes wrapped in fig leaves and apricots wrapped in fig leaves and grilled.

Edited September 10, 2010 by andiesenji (log)

[heidih]

Well I finally joined the fig leaf party. My back neighbor's tree of white figs is hanging over into my avocado. I love coconut. Today as a tiny first try I wrapped some frozen already cooked shrimp in part of a leaf and tucked it in a tiny steamer with a mini tamale I wanted for a snack. I mention the size of the steamer because I wonder if the concentration of flavor is affected by the size of the steamer and amount of ingredients. I must say they were better than just steamed and smelling the leaf after was a sweet coconut like experience. I think grilling is next. For those of you who have used the leaves, are they also eaten. Would a blanch be needed to soften them? I worry about losing that delicate flavor.