Figat, Menorca’s Sweetest Taste

Bep Al·lès/Ciutadella - In Menorca, the end of summer can also be measured through its flavours. August and September are the months of figs, especially those popularly known as figues de cristià, a fruit closely linked to the island’s rural landscape, traditional cuisine and one of Menorca’s most distinctive preserves: figat. This traditional Menorcan fig preserve is part of a gastronomic heritage that deserves to be preserved, celebrated and increasingly incorporated into contemporary cuisine.

For generations, the fig tree has been a familiar sight on Menorca’s rural estates. Bordissots, colls de dama, paratjals, catalanes, figues de la reina, negretes and figues de porc are just some of the varieties traditionally grown on the island. This diversity shows just how important figs once were in the domestic economy of Menorca’s farming families and in a cuisine based on making the most of everything provided by the land and the seasons.

Figs are inseparable from one of the most evocative images of Menorcan gastronomy: a plate of oliaigua in summer accompanied by freshly picked figs. In the past, however, their uses went much further. Figs were dried, preserved with fennel seeds, made into preserves, used in traditional cakes or baked in the oven with aniseed. Above all, they were transformed into figat.

Making figat was much more than simply preparing a preserve. On Menorca’s rural estates, it became a shared task that often ended with a snack and a small celebration. The figs were chopped and mixed with aromatic ingredients such as aniseed, melon peel or dried orange peel. Then came a slow cooking process lasting three or four hours in a large cauldron over a very low heat, with the mixture constantly stirred using a wooden paddle. It was a patient process that made it possible to preserve part of the summer in jars to be enjoyed throughout the year.

This is precisely one of figat’s greatest gastronomic virtues: its ability to connect past and present. The traditional combination with aged or mature Menorcan cheese is still probably one of the best ways to enjoy it. The contrast between the cheese’s intense, salty and lingering character and the deep sweetness of the figs creates a harmony that perfectly reflects Menorcan cuisine.

Yet figat still has great potential. It can be served on cheese boards, used as a filling for cakes and traditional pastries, paired with artisan breads or incorporated into restaurant dishes seeking to showcase a product that is unmistakably Menorcan. It can also become an excellent gastronomic souvenir for visitors, particularly when the focus is on artisan production, small batches and presentations that are able to tell the story of its origins.

Promoting figs and figat therefore means much more than promoting a preserve. It means protecting local varieties, maintaining the fig trees in our countryside, preserving recipes and knowledge handed down through generations, and adding economic value to a seasonal product that forms part of our landscape.

When, at the end of summer, the aroma of figs slowly cooking with aniseed once again fills the air, it is not simply a preserve that is being prepared. It is a Menorcan way of understanding food that is being preserved: making the most of what the land provides, respecting time and transforming a simple product into gastronomic heritage.