Fig season!

I’ve had a complicated relationship with figs ever since I discovered a dried one in my lunchbox as a five-year-old. I still remember sobbing outside the staffroom as my little friends Bernie and Jean-Ann explained to the teacher in shocked tones that Lucy’s mother had given her a wet teabag for morning tea.

Luckily, the trauma passed (it only took about 20 years) and now I’ll take figs any way I can get them. The trouble is, the birds get to the ones growing in my garden far quicker than I can - and figs’ fragility means they don’t do well in the rough and tumble of supermarkets. If you find a laden tree or a friendly supplier, nurture them lovingly because fig season is short. You never know when you might need them.

Garden of Eden roast chicken

Mulled figs with sweet orange mascarpone

Boozy figs with cinnamon and brandy