Balsamic Figs with Sheep’s Milk Cheese

The trick to this gorgeous appetizer is to find good figs. The rest is simple.

But it’s March! you say. Do you think a lot of figs grow in Montreal at any time of the year? My friend gets one per season, and the work she puts into burying that plant at the end of the growing season almost makes it not worth her effort…

…almost.

So right now, figs are coming from Peru and Chile. When I was in Peru two years ago at this time I ate the green ones with the bright red middles by the pound. The purple ones there had bright red insides but thicker, rougher, drier skins with less syrupy nectar. But I cringe at the though of using either of those figs for this dish. It’d be a waste. Good thing that shipping them halfway across the world makes them all a little dry and rubbery (and less cringe-inducing to slather them in other delicious things, thereby masking their less-than-spectacular natural flavour, which is nothing a reduced or aged balsamic can’t fix.)

So the trick is to make sure all your other ingredients are impeccable. Then your taste buds will believe those figs are too. And you almost won’t wish you were in Peru, eating them fresh from the market while the juice dribbles down your chin. Almost.

Well, we have better cheese. Buy a raw, unpasteurized sheep’s milk cheese—something with enough bitterness (compared to cow’s milk, not actual bitterness) and sharpness (as opposed to creaminess), to balance a sweet balsamic. I wouldn’t go with a Manchego or Romano unless it was your only option. Quebec has better options, including the local, organic Tomme de Kamouraska and l’Alfred le Fermier.

If you don’t have aged balsamic (it should be as thick as syrup), bring 2/3 cup of regular balsamic to a boil in a small saucepan and reduce to 1/4 cup. That should do it. I used an aged blueberry balsamic from the Tucson Olive Oil Company. It’s sweet and sour and perfect on its own as a salad dressing or ice cream topper or drizzled on figs and cheese.

Balsamic Figs with Sheep’s Milk Cheese

8-12 fresh figs (purple will look better in this dish, but green are fine too)
30 grams firm sheep’s milk cheese
1/4 cup aged balsamic vinegar
A few pinches fancy or coarse salt (I had some blueberry sea salt from Vancouver but Maldon salt or Himalayan sea salt are both good options. Course is better than fine)

Remove tip from figs and cut into 1/4″ slices. Arrange on platter as you see fit. Shave whisps (not slices as in my photos…) of sheep’s milk cheese and place one on top of each, or scatter artistically over the platter. Drizzle balsamic from a spoon over everything. You have to do this confidently with a fast motion to get straight lines and make it artsy. Try getting the lines to go in different directions. Sprinkle with salt. Serve with forks as necessary.