fig and olive tapenade
This starter is an absolute winner! The recipe comes from my French neighbour, Ursula, a demon cook whose beautiful garden – ingeniously irrigated using rainwater collected from the roof of her house house – is always bursting with fruit and vegetables, alongside her flowers.
It is important that the vinegar and olives are of the best quality. Piment d’Espelette is a spice made from dried Espelette peppers, a variety of chilli grown exclusively in the Basque region. The ground chillies have a mild heat, and a unique flavour – fruity, with citrus notes and a slight smokiness. You can find the spice online, but the more widely available Aleppo pepper (also known as pul biber), sweet paprika, or a mild cayenne are suitable subsitutes. When I’m in France, I sometimes use half a fresh Espelette pepper (available in my local market), deseeded and finely chopped, instead.
SERVES 4
100g dried figs (about 8, depending on their size)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic or other good quality vinegar
100g black olives (Kalamata for preference) pitted and roughly chopped
50g walnuts, coarsely ground
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Pinch of piment d’Espelette (or sweet paprika, cayenne or Aleppo pepper)
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon picked fresh thyme leaves
Put the figs into a small pan and pour over 110ml cold water. Cover, bring to the boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Reserving the fig water, lift out the figs, cool slightly, then roughly chop them.
Put the chopped figs and the reserved fig water into a small mixing bowl. Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Decant into a small serving bowl and refrigerate overnight.
Serve at room temperature, garnished with a sprig of fresh rosemary, with seeded crackers and, if you like, a soft, fresh goat’s cheese.
