.: evil jungle prince :.

When I showed up to work this morning, I had a big surprise sitting on my office chair: fresh figs! Yesterday my boss and I had been discussing his neighbor's fig tree, and not one to hide my jealousy I told him how much I wished I had fresh figs within arm's length. Apparently he snuck in over the weekend and left me a bag of them. Although Asian in origin, figs happen to thrive in our dry, hot desert climate.

Another reason I was excited was the fact I've never cooked with fresh figs before. This presented a number possibilities, but ultimately I decided to try making a fig chutney.

1.I first combined 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 onion (diced), 1 large knob of grated ginger, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp lemon zest, 1/2 cinnamon stick, 1 tsp salt, a dash of allspice, and a dash of powdered cloves. This was brought to a simmer until 2/3 reduced.

2. I then de-stemmed the figs (4-5 large ones), cut into pieces, and added to the chutney mixture. This was in turn allowed to reduce until a chutney-like consistency was reached. Finally, I allowed the mixture to cool in the refrigerator before dabbing a spoonful next to a heaping portion of rice.

Yum! My first attempt at making chutney turned out pretty well and I think I made good use of the figs, especially considering I'll now be able to enjoy them with a number of meals rather than just one.