Those past weeks of Fall have been the occasion to rediscover figs and jujubes. For the figs, during our Bordeaux workshop (check the ‘Workshop’ section), I was given to taste some white figs from the trees and I cannot remember eating anything so delicious. Back in Paris, I had them in mind for recipes (I will soon share a savoury tart with figs as well) and wanted my boy to taste them. I don’t remember liking them as a child, maybe often because of their lack of taste or their thick skin or their texture. He did not like them raw. That’s not a problem, the idea is to have him taste everything and make his own mind. Nevertheless, so he could like figs and because he loves everything with vinegar (so do I), I had the idea, then, to cook them and make a chutney with other seasonal fruits. Firstly, I found jujubes at my favorite fruit vendor. He told me with all his legendary kindness their origin. Jujubes are from the same family as grapes or figs. They grow in Northern Africa, are green when they are not ripe enough and taste like apple. Once the fruit is ripe, it turns from a caramel color to a dark purple-black tone. When it wilts, it will taste and look more like a date. Then, I had to find the apples. Every year, we go to a farm with my little boy to harvest some apples with our rain boots and our wheelbarrow. It’s the occasion for me to show him how fruits and veggies are grown, what’s seasonal and why we do not eat strawberries and raspberries all year long. We the organic apples in our basket, I was ready to make my chutney.Ingredients:
- 1 red organic apple, peeled, cored and diced
- 10 purple figs, cleaned, stemless and quartered (small quarters)
- 2 handful jujubes, cleaned, stoneless and quartered
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 small size shallots, peeled and sliced thinly
- 100 ml balsamic vinegar
- 50 ml cider vinegar
- 70g cane sugar
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp four spices mix
- 100 ml water
Recipe:
- In a large pan, pour the olive oil, the spices and the shallots
- Slightly brown the shallots in the spiced oil
- Add the two different vinegars and let it simmer on low heat for few minutes
- Add the apple, the figs and the jujubes, mix well
- Add the water and let it simmer on low heat till the mixture has the consistency of a jam (as you’ll eat the chutney with meat, you don’t want to have a too liquid texture)
- Pour the chutney in a pot with a lid. You can keep the chutney in your fridge for approx. two weeks. If you want to keep it longer, you will have to sterilize the pot beforehand