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    Home • Blog Posts • French Food Guides • Market Produce

    Figs (Figues)

    Published: Sep 17, 2024 by Jill ColonnaLeave a Comment

    A guide to French figs: how best to serve them, the sweetest and best tasting varieties in France plus healthy, easy recipes using both fresh and dried figs.

    trays of purple fresh figs at the market next to girolle mushrooms

    French Fig Season

    In France, fig season arrives late summer/beginning Autumn. So they're popular at the farmers' market mid August and all of September - sometimes until mid October! It's not unusual to see them next to the fresh girolles, as it's also mushroom season.

    6500 tons of fresh figs were harvested in France in 2021, so they're popular in France.

    Fig's Health Benefits

    According to Aprifel for the French Ministry of Agriculture, figs are rich in antioxidants and a good source of fibre, vitamin B9 and potassium (with more potassium than bananas).
    Their various researchers (same source) report they're anti-inflammatory containing phenolic acids, flavonoids, and contain anti-diabetic properties. So, not only do they help to reduce glycemic levels but are found to be anti-cancer too.

    boxes of figs at the French market

    Fresh Figs in France - Are they a Fruit?

    According to the botanists at the Potager du Roi in Versailles, figs are not fruits as such but inversed flowers.

    La Quintinye, Louis XIV's botanist at Versailles, found a way to produce figs all year round. There are now 700 fig trees in the shadow of La Figuerie building in Versailles.

    See much more on figs in my article on
    the King's Vegetable Garden (Potager du Roi).

    piles of chopped figs

    The Best Tasting Figs in France - Varieties

    Figs are naturally sweet and the skin is edible but there are some even sweeter than others.

    According to Truffaut, a French garden centre, there are many varieties grown in France. La Noire de Caromb is the sweetest variety.

    Quality figs such as la figue de Solliès, grown in the Mediterranean department of the Var, have Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) status since 2006 and have been protected by AOP since 2011. Solliès figs are known for their particular sweetness and floral notes and are available as of mid August.

    Look out for the following at the market, which are excellent to eat on their own and in jam (see recipe below):

    • Alma
    • Cendrosa
    • Col de Dame noir (also good for drying)
    • Figue de Marseille
    • La Bourgeoise
    • Ronde de Bordeaux
    • Sultane
    fresh figs with slices of apple and pear with a large slice of French blue cheese, Roquefort

    Slang Fig Expression

    I don't give a fig for that!
    The French don't say the same thing, meaning they don't care. Instead they say:
    "Je m'en moque comme de ma première chemise !"

    English and French expression

    How Best to Serve

    In his Guide to Modern Cookery, Auguste Escoffier instructs his chefs and readers to "Place them on a layer of very green leaves, and surround them with broken ice".

    bowl of fresh figs and orange on green fig leaves

    Should Figs Be Refrigerated?

    According to the French Ministry of Agriculture, it's best to store fresh figs outside the fridge for up to 4 days or up to a week in the fridge.

    warm goat cheese salad served with chopped fresh figs
    Delicious sliced as part of a warm goat's cheese salad

    What Pairs Well With Them? French Food Associations

    • Fresh figs are a perfect match with cheeses and foie gras.
      Serve some quartered on a cheeseboard - particularly good with goat's cheese like this warm salade de chèvre chaud. For strong cheeses (particularly those from Corsica), enjoy with fig jam.
    • According to French food scientist, Raphaël Haumont, figs have about 300 molecules that make up their distinctive taste.
      As a result, fresh figs pair well with other foods with the same kinds of molecules such as coffee, bacon, carrots, oranges, apricots, ginger, cinnamon, pears, apples...
    • Figs are also an ideal decoration chopped on top of desserts and cakes. Top chopped fresh figs on carrot cakes, sticky orange caramel cake, French apple crumble cake, and Tiramisu.
    • See more recipes below.
    fig almond dessert pink macaron shells

    Fresh Fig Recipes

    Here are some easy French recipes using the fresh fruits - from adding to salads to desserts.

    salad with French blue cheese, pear, apple and walnuts

    Add chopped fresh figs to this fall salad with blue cheese, apples, avocado and pears. Either use Roquefort, Stilton or any of your favourite blues.

    roasted fresh figs in a baking dish with honey and port

    Roasted figs with Port and honey - this is so easy, it's hardly even a recipe! Halve figs and roast in the oven with a little honey and Port. This goes particularly well with French cheeses.

    Add a touch of lavender for a French touch and it's delicious as a dessert on its own or served with ice cream. Great served as a side to this macaron Tiramisu dessert as delicious with coffee desserts.

    fig jam with bread and cheese

    Corsican Fig Jam - this recipe has been recently updated to reduce further the amount of sugar thanks so culinary science. Paired with orange, this isn't only delicious but the high amount of pectin thickens the jam naturally.

    Serve on its own, dolloped on creamy French rice pudding or on top of fluffy brioche, crêpes and Scotch pancakes.

    slice of banana bread and topped with fresh figs and walnuts

    Add chopped fresh figs to decorate cakes such as this moist banana nut bread.
    Figs also pair well with walnuts so use both of them, as in France they are in season around the same time of year.

    large puff pastry tart topped with sliced fresh figs

    Slice fresh figs and top on this easy Fig tart with almonds from my cookbook, Teatime in Paris. Just replace with figs in this easy peach tart recipe.

    Easy Recipe using Dry Figs

    oat crumble squares with a date paste sandwiched in middle, cut on plate with old recipe book and tartan in background

    Chop up dried figs and use them in this Matrimonial Cake recipe. They make a delicious replacement for the traditional dried dates for these squares with oats.
    As a result, it's a healthy oat version of Fig Newtons!

    More Market Produce

    • bunches of fresh green bananas with French flag stickers
      Bananas (Bananes)
    • baskets of different fresh lemon varieties in a French market
      Lemons & Limes (Citrons/Citrons vert)
    • bunch of fresh watercress with dark green leaves
      Watercress (Cresson)
    • crate of Parisian chestnut mushrooms at the French market
      Mushrooms (Champignons)

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    Jill Colonna standing in a French patisserie lab holding a giant whisk over an oversized mixer bowl

    Bonjour - I'm Jill

    As a cookbook author and founder of Mad About Macarons since 2010, I’ve spent 30+ years perfecting foolproof French recipes in Paris—so you don’t have to! Expect step-by-step guidance, lower-sugar treats that don’t skimp on flavour, plus insider food and market guides to help you taste France like a local. If I can do it, so can you - no fancy techniques required!

    Meet Jill

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    Jill Colonna standing in a French patisserie lab holding a giant whisk over an oversized mixer bowl
    Welcome

    Bonjour - I'm Jill

    As a cookbook author and founder of Mad About Macarons since 2010, I’ve spent 30+ years perfecting foolproof French recipes in Paris—so you don’t have to! Expect step-by-step guidance, lower-sugar treats that don’t skimp on flavour, plus insider food and market guides to help you taste France like a local. If I can do it, so can you - no fancy techniques required!

    Meet Jill

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