flipDried Figs with Shepherd's Cheese
Dried Figs with Shepherd's Cheese
Why this dish? Antiope wandered long, fleeing Thebes then seeking her sons on Mount Cithaeron. Dried figs and goat cheese, which keep and carry easily, were the provision of shepherds and fugitives: exactly what you slip into a bundle for the mountain.
Dried figs split and stuffed with goat cheese, rolled in sesame or thyme. A concentrated, sweet-salty provision that travels and keeps.
The fugitive carries only what neither weighs nor rots. Here is my viaticum for the roads: the fig dried in the summer sun, split and filled with the cheese of Cithaeron's goats, rolled in sesame. It fits in the hand, it lasts for days, and the fig's sweetness mingled with the cheese's salt restores the heart when the mountain is harsh. I had such on me the day I found my sons.
- •Sun-dried figs — about ten (sweet base)
- •Firm goat cheese — as needed for figs (salty filling)
- •Sesame seeds — a handful (coating)
- •Dried thyme — a pinch (flavor)
Dried Figs with Shepherd's Cheese
Dried figs split and stuffed with goat cheese, rolled in sesame or thyme. A concentrated, sweet-salty provision that travels and keeps.
Why this dish? Antiope wandered long, fleeing Thebes then seeking her sons on Mount Cithaeron. Dried figs and goat cheese, which keep and carry easily, were the provision of shepherds and fugitives: exactly what you slip into a bundle for the mountain.
The fugitive carries only what neither weighs nor rots. Here is my viaticum for the roads: the fig dried in the summer sun, split and filled with the cheese of Cithaeron's goats, rolled in sesame. It fits in the hand, it lasts for days, and the fig's sweetness mingled with the cheese's salt restores the heart when the mountain is harsh. I had such on me the day I found my sons.
Ingredients (period version)
- Sun-dried figs — about ten (sweet base)
- Firm goat cheese — as needed for figs (salty filling)
- Sesame seeds — a handful (coating)
- Dried thyme — a pinch (flavor)
Ingredients
- Soft dried figs — 10 (sweet base)
- Semi-dry goat cheese — 100 g (salty filling)
- Sesame seeds — 3 tbsp (coating)
- Dried thyme — 1 pinch (flavor)
- Honey — 1 tsp (optional) (binder)
Method
- Slit each dried fig without cutting it in half.
- Mix the crumbled goat cheese with a pinch of thyme (and a little honey if desired).
- Stuff each fig with the cheese and press closed.
- Toast the sesame seeds for a few minutes, then roll the stuffed figs in them.
- Let rest in a cool place for one hour so the filling sets; keeps for several days.
How it was made : Figs, fresh in season and dried the rest of the year, were a pillar of Greek diet, so much so that they were considered emblematic of Attica. Dried, they kept for months and accompanied cheese as a poor man's *ópson* and travel provision.
The contemporary twist : Arrange on skewers on a slate board with a drizzle of honey and a few toasted almonds, Mediterranean appetizer style.
Antiope · Charactorium
