Polyhedral fruits

Polyhedral fruits
Magazine: September 2007

“Figs have a distinct taste and are versatile for which reasons they compliment particular products, such as pork,” affi rms Maurizio Urso, chef of the hotelrestaurant ‘Il Podere’ in Syracuse. I fashion a dessert with them that recounts the transitions between rulers of Sicily; it is called “Aristofane, Pollio e Karap”. To construct it, I put an almond cookie wafer on the bottom of a glass, cover it with ricotta fl avoured with cinnamon and pieces of sun-dried fi g, and top it off with a Moscato wine jelly from Syracuse (or Pollio), candied fava beans, and a pistachio or carob wafer”. Hailing predominately from Sicily, Campania, Calabria, Puglia, Abruzzo, Tuscany, and the Marches, fi gs are distinguished by their greenish or very thin black-violet peels.

The Chef Maurizio Urso, recommends

AT HOME
A ripe fi g is soft to the touch. Delicate and sensitive to the slightest squeeze, the fruit will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days.

HOW TO USE
Raw, as an appetizer, for example with raw ham, fi gs should be left whole, peeled, but with stalks; if you desire to cook them, they should be exposed to the lowest heat possible to avoid scorching, whether lightly roasted or prepared au gratin. When serving with meat or fi sh, the fruit can be grilled with salt and pepper or caramelised in the drippings of the main dish.

À LA CARTE
- Fish: fi let of angler fi sh with rosemary wrapped in bacon, sautéed and placed on a bed of puréed potatoes with cinnamon infused onions, paired with fi gs browned in butter and oil and mellowed with Nero d’Avola wine. - Meat: neck of wild black hog from the Nebrodi mountain range, pan fried and reduced with Nero d’Avola wine, served with red pepper seasoned greens and fresh fi gs. - Dessert: dumpling of carob fl our, stuffed with sheep’s milk ricotta and fi g preserves, served with vanilla ice cream and reduced carob wine.