Foraged Fig Butter

This summer, while walking my dog farther than he wanted to go, we found a new fig tree. Well, its new to me anyway. Each time I've been there now that they're ripe, I see several people within 15 minutes. They pull over in their car, walk across the lot (its too small to call a field but its a big lot) and pick a small handful of the ripest figs. I had been checking on this tree for weeks and it seemed like they never ripened up. I know learned they are just well looked after. Except no one prunes it. Its a crazy jumble of branches that touch the ground on all sides. Its a 15 foot shrub.

Walter Crumpkin resting at the multi-trunked base of the fig.

The last time I went, a man offered me a few of his ripest figs and told me of another tree in the neighborhood. I thanked him in Arabic, which surprised him. (That is about the extent of my Arabic though.) He also told me I should climb into the tree because I am little and others didn't climb up. I took his advice and collected about 3 pints total. I gave a few of my ripest figs to the next man that came to check on the tree.

When I got home I sorted them. The very ripest I put in the fridge. These were all yellow with a purple blush. Some were greenish yellow but still fairly soft so I picked them, wondering how close they were. By the very next day, they were super ripe, they looked just like the ones in the fridge. Fruit flies were invading my kitchen. I was doing lots of food projects that day, so I decided to just cook them down into fig butter. I used honey and bourbon to make my small batch efforts even more worthwhile.

Honey Bourbon Fig Butter

1 quart fresh Figs
1/4 C Honey
2 Tbl Bourbon Whiskey
another splash of whiskey at the end to deglaze the pan, help preserve the preserves and add a tasty alcohol bite to the sweet gooey fig mush.



Destem the figs and cut into 1/8ths. Add to a pot with honey and bourbon. Simmer over medium low heat for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Turn down heat to low, mash with a potato masher and continue cooking for another 30 minutes. A this point you need to stir very frequently and it will start to stick to the pan a bit. Take off heat and add a big splash of high proof bourbon, if possible. Let cool completely and then put in a jar and keep in the fridge. I didn't even consider properly canning it as I only had one jar. Eat on toast or with cheese.

Peach Fig Kimchi

I made a similar condiment 2 years ago and it was a huge success. I didn't measure it then and I didn't measure it now. I'd compare it to mango chutney before kimchi but it is made in the kimchi style. "Real" kim chi is a korean fermented cabbage condiment/salad/side dish. It generally contains cabbage, daikon radish, sometimes carrots, chili, garlic, scallion/onion, ginger, sometimes fish sauce. It is sour but there is no vinegar added when made correctly; the sour flavor is all from lactobacillus fermentation. There are tons of different recipes using a wide range of ingredients, sometimes even fruit.


Peach Fig Kim Chi

5 Peaches, chopped
1/2 lb Figs, chopped 
bunch Garlic Chives, diced
1 Shallot, minced
1 inch knob Ginger, microplaned
2 jalapeno, minced

Chop peaches and figs coarsely, put in a strainer set over a bowl, salt heavily and stir. Stir a few times while chopping the other ingredients. Combine everything in a quart mason jar and leave loosely capped for about a week. (Its ok for air to get in but no bugs!) Stir every 12 hours.


By chopping and salting the fruit before adding the other ingredients, a significant amount of liquid is drawn out of the fruits. When making kimchi, you want everything to be submerged in liquid, not exposed to air. By pre-salting the fruit, you also insure that any bits that do get exposed to air above the surface of the brine (or in this case fruity/ mushy/ briney stuff) will be salty enough that they wont mold. Stirring frequently reincorporates any bits that are near the surface, as well as slowly mashing it up. I use a chopstick. The fruit has so much liquid that I remove some at the start so that when finished it will have a nice, thickened, almost chunky applesauce texture.


A microplane is a superfine super sharp grater that is great for ginger, citrus zest and hard cheese. I always use it for ginger. You get really fresh, juicy ginger and are left holding some of the stringy pulp instead of eating it. I used garlic chives because they are so prolific in my garden. (You could use scallions and garlic instead.) They are a little bit tough raw sometimes and I was concerned about the texture in the finished kim chi. Luckily, they worked out fine chopped small and fermented for a week.

Peach Fig Kim Chi, after a week of stirring twice a day.