Baby Fig Spoon Sweet (Sikalaki Gliko)
Mama makes her traditional recipes from memory, but when memory needs a little boost, she hauls out her battered old copy of Megali Mageiriki. The classic Greek cookbook, it’s very 1950’s, complete with faded photos of fancy but unappetizing-looking food. Remember those old Betty Crocker cookbooks? It’s like that. Nevertheless, it has great recipes, probably because traditional Greek cooking predates the fifties by a few centuries or so.
With Zoe’s help, I’ve translated a recipe for candied baby figs from Megali Mageiriki . It uses unripe figs, and the great thing about unripe figs is that the birds won’t have eaten them before you can pick them. Once the figs on the tree are ripe, they’re pretty much lost to me, but (ha-ha!) now I can outwit the birds. Sort of.
The recipe didn’t specify what size the unripe figs should be, so I picked a variety of sizes, as you can see below.
The large one on the left is a full-grown fig that just hasn’t ripened yet. Frankly, the figs of this size turned out nasty and I threw them away. All the others turned out great. My favorites are the medium sized ones shown in the center. I like them because they’ve started to make seeds, and the seeds add a pleasantly contrasting crunch to an otherwise soft consistency.
Ingredients
2 pounds unripe figs
3 pounds sugar
3 cups water
lemon juice (a couple of tablespoons)
cloves and/or vanilla (just guess!)
Rinse the figs and poke a hole in each fig with a thick nail. This step will be a bit messy from the sticky latex oozing out of the figs.
I do actually know the difference between a nail and a screwdriver. I found that a small phillips screwdriver works just as well and is easier to handle.
Okay, once you’re done poking the figs, put them in water and let them soak for a few hours.
Next, boil the figs in plain water for 15 minutes.
When the 15 minutes are done, put the figs into cold water, then when they’re cool, drain them.
Dump the old water out of your cookpot, and and replace it with fresh water. Repeat the sequence of boiling the figs for 15 minutes, putting them in cold water until they’re cool, and then draining them.
Boil the 3 pounds of sugar with the 3 cups of water for about 5 minutes, then add the figs.
Boil the figs in the syrup for 15 minutes, then turn the heat off.
Leave the figs in the syrup for 12 hours.
Remove the figs from the syrup and boil the syrup until it is thick.
Put the figs back in, along with the lemon juice, cloves, and vanilla.
Boil a few more minutes until the syrup is again well-thickened.
Put into clean jars and store.
Warning! The pot and colander you use will end up with sticky little smears of latex all over them. I had to scrub it off with scouring powder. I tend to think the latex would even defeat nonstick cookware and would be very difficult to remove without abrasives, so I suggest sticking with cookware that you can give a good scrubbing to.
Comment by Laurie Constantino
Those look mighty tasty – I’m thinking the syrup would be perfect over ice cream. Or you could make your own ice cream and use the syrup for part of the sweetening and add chopped candied figs. Mmm – I’m making myself really want some of these!
Laurie Constantino’s last blog post..Transitions
Comment by Lulu
Et tu, Laurie? When did you decide to join the dark forces that are compelling me to buy an ice cream maker?
Comment by Sam Sotiropoulos
Lulu, you have outdone yourself with this spoon sweet! I love it!
Sam Sotiropoulos’s last blog post..Greek Cheese Primer Audio Interview
Comment by Lulu
Thanks, Sam! I really didn’t know what I was doing, because this isn’t something Mama makes, at least not in my experience. But it was very easy.
Comment by maria verivaki
my mum used to make these every year in new zealand – the only reason i don’t make them is that i would eat them all myself
maria verivaki’s last blog post..Green beans and chicken in wine sauce (Kotopoulo Krassato me Fasolakia)
Comment by Lulu
Maria, I know what you mean. I end up giving away most of the sweets I make. I like making them, but I’m just not a big sweet eater.
Comment by Lulu
Laurie, Zoe tells me she used to eat pagoto siko in Thessaloniki all the time.
Comment by Cheryl
Wow Lulu, just what I’ve been waiting for. I’ll go have a look at my figs to see if they’re unripe enough to make spoon sweets. I’d love to surprise MIL with a jar of my own! I’ll let you know how this adventure unfolds…
Great post once again!!!
Cheryl’s last blog post..Some pictures for Saturday
Comment by Ivy
Lulu, figs are my favourite spoon sweet. I haven’t made them for years because I can’t get any unripe figs. When I used to make them I used to roast some blanched almonds and make a slot and put one in each. Also I used quicklime (???????) as it makes it crunchier. However, last week I made watermelon spoon sweet and as I did not have any lime I didn’t put any in. The taste was great but not crunchy. Finally, when you finish the spoon sweet, always add a few spoonfuls of lemon juice. This prevents the syrup to crystallize. Have this in mind for any future spoon sweets and don’t forget to make some fig jam when they are ripe. Delicious.
Comment by Ivy
The Greek words with question marks is (asvesti). I forgot to tell you that asvesti is the same used in constructions. For about 50 medium figs you will need 1 cup of asvesti dissolved in water. You will have to soak them for an hour and then wash them thoroughly.
Ivy’s last blog post..Farfalle with aubergine, peppers and purslane pesto
Comment by Lulu
Go for it, Cheryl! I think you should probably have a variety of sizes on the tree right now. It seems like it’s not till a bit later when they start really ripening that the new ones stop coming. Of course, I suppose different varieties have different ripening patterns.
Comment by Lulu
Ivy, wow, thanks for all that information! They say “No good deed goes unpunished,” hence I have some questions for you.
1. About how much water should I dissolve the 1 cup of avesti in? A sinkful?
2. Do I soak the figs in the avesti water before or after I poke a hole in them? Or don’t I need to poke the holes at all?
3. Do you mean I should add some lemon juice to the top of each jar?
Comment by Ivy
Lulu, to start with I peel a thin layer of skin off first of all (be sure to wear rubber gloves, because the latex will irritate your hands, of course you know that). Just dissolve asvesti with 1 litre of water and put figs in) add more water just to cover them and leave them for a hour.
Rince well, put them in a pot, cover with water and boil until soft. (You know that they are done, when piercing them with the skrew driver or a knitting needle, they will fall from the needle).
Drain them, add fresh water to cover them, add the juice of 3-4 lemons, and let them soak for an hour. Drain water.
Here is where you poke a hole in them (and you add the almond if you like).
Place them in a pot, add sugar and let them rest for half an hour.
Then bring to a boil and simmer for fifteen minutes only.
The next day bring to a boil again and when the syrup is thick enough they are done. Remove from the heat, add the juice of half a lemon and vanilla and stir. (If you prefer cloves, add them with the almonds). Let them cool down before storing in jars.
I wish I could find a fig tree somewhere around here, I’d get up in the night and raid it!!
Ivy’s last blog post..Farfalle with aubergine, peppers and purslane pesto
Comment by Lulu
Thanks for coming back to answer my questions, Ivy. I did not know all that. I’m excited to try your method! Thanks again, Ivy!
Comment by Lore
I’d eat these by the spoonful!
Lore’s last blog post..Fettuccine With Blackcurrants And Slightly Soured Cabbage
Comment by Lulu
Hi Lore, help yourself!
Comment by Gloria
Dear Lulu, Love figs all the time!!! and your blog is beautiful, dear Lulu did you know Im in love of Greek food????? xxxx (Thanks to passing by at mine)
Gloria’s last blog post..Artichokes Pie (Pastel de alcachofas o alcauciles)
Comment by manju
I love using less-than-ripe fruit for sweets, soups, pickles, etc. This is really intriguing. I’ve never seen unripe figs in a market, guess I’ll have to befriend a fig-tree owner!! Wanna be my friend?? LOL.
manju’s last blog post..Date & Tamarind Cake
Comment by Paula
Hmmm … my neighbor has a fig tree that leans waaay over my fence … hmmm … it’s absolutely heavy with unripened figs. What to do, what to do???
Paula’s last blog post..I’d like to thank the academy ….
Comment by Lulu
@17 Gloria, hi! Thanks for visiting! It’s nice to have fellow Greek-food lovers here!
@18 Hey, manju, you know you’re my friend! So if you ever see a flock of pigeons coming from California clutching unripe figs, you’ll know who they’re from.
@19 Paula, it’s not stealing, it’s gleaning. 😉
Comment by FoodJunkie
Bravo Lulu, you are ready to become a traditional Greek grandmother! You know I usually do not eat “spoon” sweets, but fig, tomato and aubergine are actually very interesting. Try it over yogurt or yogurt icecream, as it needs something slightly acidic to cut through the sweetness.
FoodJunkie’s last blog post..stuffed bread with feta cheese, onion, dill and olives
Comment by Lulu
Gee, thanks, FoodJunkie! I’ll just change my name to Granny Barbarian. 😉
Comment by Bellini Valli
I love how at the restaurants in Greece they give you spoon sweets, fresh fruit or even flowers at the end of a meal for an added dining experience:D
Bellini Valli’s last blog post..Celebrate, Celebrate……..
Comment by Lulu
Val, yes, that’s really nice!
Comment by RennyBA
Wooow, what an interesting and very delicious post – quite different for a Norwegian of course – thanks for sharing!
Btw: Thanks for your visit and nice comments. Always great to see visitors with Norwegian anchors of course and I’m glad I could bring back some raspberry memories too
RennyBA’s last blog post..Torsö island at Mariestad, The Pearl of lake Vänern
Comment by Lulu
Hi Renny, glad you stopped by!
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Comment by Jackie
Thanks for this recipe. Here in cold old England our figs rarely ripen. I’m glad to find something I can still make with them! my figs are soaking as I type…
Comment by Lulu
Jackie, that’s so great! I’m thrilled you could make such good use of this!
Comment by Jackie
Hmmm. Have I done something wrong? I am at the ‘soaking for 12 hours’ stage and they smell really odd – a bit like gherkins? An unpleasant, gluey smell. Is this normal? Do I continue or do I give up?!
Comment by Lulu
Jackie, I do remember them being pretty fragrant. Not unpleasant but not exactly fruity either. So I’m not sure what to tell you.
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[…] few weeks ago, when Lulu made her fig spoon sweet, I was excited but a little disappointed as I am not able to get some immature figs in Athens. When […]
Comment by ashlyn
Re: fig latex
a little cooking oil is very good at getting latex off or dissolving organic glues. Works for some glues used for jar labels as well.
Comment by John Papahatzis
love you Recipes.we good if you Will bE GOOD if you got it in Kilograms
Yiasou ke Efharisto.Yiannis
Comment by Lulu
I agree, John, I’ll put that on my to-do list.
Comment by Lyn
I am big on baking and rarely make preserves but this recipe looks great. Out new house has three fig trees next door. The owner is never there and told us to take as many as we want as long as we can beat the birds to them. So I am now giving your recipe a try. I’m just onto my second boiling now so am eagerly waiting to try it tomorrow.
Comment by John Papahatzis
do you have the Kumquat preserve recipe?
EUXARISTO
Comment by Maureen
I make this as my husband loves it -but after a while the figs seem to go mouldy with white moss-why is this please.
Comment by Linda Ziedrich
Lulu, I’m glad to have discovered your fantastic blog, through a reader of my own (www.agardenerstable.com). Regarding the figs, do you know what variety you’ve used? Also, do you know if this method is typically used for a second crop that never properly ripens?
Comment by Tessa
I made these a few days ago and they are yummy. I am making another batch today experimenting with the adding ginger and will post about it soon on my blog. I am pleased to have found a use for the unripe figs from our tree.
Comment by Mrs Sparkles
Thanks for the warning about the latex
I had a feeling I was going to spend more time scrubbing the used pots than eating the figs, but hit on the idea of rubbing the residues with oil. Worked a treat. Soaped up with detergent, rinsed … good as new.
And then I read ashlyn’s comment above …
Comment by Hazel
Late October and there were lots of small figs left on my three year old Brown Turkey Fig here in Hertfordshire, England, so I was thrilled to find your blog. I do wonder if this works better in warmer climes and maybe it is also a little dependent upon the variety. Mine have been smelling rather like green beans throughout the process and I couldn’t help thinking that they might do better pickled. Anyway, I persevered and now have two big Kilner jars full. I’m going to set them aside for a few weeks before sampling.
Comment by Anonymous
pick the green figs before the first frost. trim ends and cut a small X in the bottom. rinse well. I leave mine in the water for an hour or so before i trim them. get a large pan of water boiling. put in the trimmed figs and boil for 7 or 8 minutes. rinse well. boil another large pan or water and repeat. drain, rinse. depending on the number of figs you have, prepare the syrup. 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar.- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon- 1/4 tsp. cloves ( of you use ground) or one or 2 whole cloves for each jar. 1/4 tsp. of ginger. make the amount of syrup to cover the figs. when you mix the syrup mixture, add 1 TBS lemon and 1 TBS to the mixture. add green figs and cover. boil for 10 to 12 minutes. sterilize jars, put hot figs in jars, cover with syrup. you can can them if you want or just keep them refrigerated when they cool. they will keep in the refrigerator for 6 months. if you keep them longer, they will get soft. if that happens, put them in the food processor and make a spread.
Comment by Jan
I do these every year from your recipe – sometimes I add star anise… not a lot! 1 small star in every jar, looks pretty.
this year I decided to try doing it in the pressure cooker – I put them in the pressure cooker 4 minutes from cold water, just once, not twice, then cooled drained and boiled in syrup. They turned out perfect!
I think the pressure helps ‘take out’ anything you don’t want, and distribute the water evenly through the fruit.
And it saved so much time!
I have 6 pounds of fruit on the stove now, and that’s just what I could easily reach in ten minutes on our tree. It’s starting to get hot here in Australia, and we all want these figs at Christmas. I have so many jars lined up for our neighbours. Thanks so much for this great recipe.
Comment by Jan
And I forgot to say – everyone loves these chopped with a cheese platter!
Comment by Shaila Setty
Dear Lulu,
Thanks for this recipe. I am a new owner of two fig trees. They had some baby figs which fell off as the plant did not get watered one day and it was super hot! I came across this when I was looking for recipes with baby figs. The syrup crystallized!! What can I do to remedy this or for next time?
Thanks a lot for answering my question in advance.
Comment by Alec C
My neighbour has a fig tree and complains that they never ripen, so hopefully he will now pass them on to me. I doubt if they’ll be as good as my mom’s (she was Greek) but I’ll have a good go.
Comment by Elke
Totally fantastic. I found those fig tree owner/neighboours, who are happily sharing their overripe figs. Since we have two seasons here in Vancouver, BC, we get a second baby growth of green figs…that actually always goes to waste. Since, I am a forager since Childhood in Germany and south Africa, this recipe of green, unripe baby figs spoke to me in a peculiar way…made 6 jars of this incredible goodness, from unripe, green baby figs! Thank you! Delightfully , surprisingly different!
Comment by Elke
I loved this new recipe…and felt connected to my past lives as forager. Green, unripe figs never came up…and then it presented itself to me in RIPE figs…before I discovered UNRIPE, green figs to be not lost, but found in a whole new, way! Thank you. I made 6 jars…it smelled like Christmas cooking in my summer kitchen. Delighted!
Comment by Pat
Hi Lulu
What a difference a fig tree makes. Searching for recipes for unripe figs I have come across you. GREAT. Just stripped my tree of all little unripe figs and they are currently soaking ready for tomorrows next step. I tried Mamas recipe with a few figs last month to see how it went. I have 2 pots full but not enough syrup to cover. Will make more syrup and add the lemon, although a small amount was added last time but the sugar still went to bottom of jar.
Interesting to hear how many figs people actually eat per day , considering the laxative effect they have. I love them.