Fig preserve, a tradition from the Menorcan pantry

In the past, Menorca’s farming families made much greater use of the fig tree than they do today. Figs were dried, as is still done in Mallorca, or preserved in jars with fennel seeds. Jars of preserved figs were also prepared and, in the kitchen, figs were used not only for making cocas or baking with aniseed, but were also at the heart of an entire ritual devoted to making fig preserve. This highly prized Menorcan preserve is traditionally served with aged cheese, used to fill cakes and pastries, or simply spread over a good slice of country bread for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

On Menorcan farms, it was customary for people to gather together to prepare the fig preserve, a communal occasion that would often end with a generous feast or afternoon snack. The figs were minced using a special machine, or sometimes a meat grinder, and the resulting paste was mixed with aniseed and, when available, dried melon and orange peel. It was then cooked very slowly in a large cauldron for three or four hours, constantly stirred with a large wooden paddle that each farmer or farmhouse mistress kept especially for making this preserve. Once ready, it was put into jars and kept as part of the household provisions for the whole year.

Today, jars of fig preserve can still be found in many small shops across Menorca, and Menorcans often stock up on it to serve, as mentioned, with our aged and cured cheeses. In this way, we continue to enjoy that combination of sweet and savoury flavours that we like so much and which is such a characteristic part of Menorcan gastronomy.