flipDried Figs with Honey, Cheese, and Thyme
Dried Figs with Honey, Cheese, and Thyme
Why this dish? After the deipnon comes the symposion, where wine mixed with water is drunk while nibbling tragêmata, these small sweets. The figs of Boeotia were famous throughout Greece. For a banquet at the court of Thebes, this is the sweet note that closes a king's meal.
Dried figs filled with fresh cheese, drizzled with honey, and perfumed with thyme and walnuts: the treat that accompanies wine during the symposion.
When the cups go round and the wine mingles with water in the krater, they bring the figs — those of our Boeotia, which all Greece envies us. We open them, slip a little fresh cheese inside, pour honey, sprinkle thyme from our hills and crushed walnuts. It is a small thing, but it is sweet, and sweetness is rare in times of fraternal discord. Take one, and drink to the health of Thebes — while there is still time.
- •Dried figs — about ten (sweet base)
- •Fresh goat cheese — a portion (filling)
- •Honey — for drizzling (binding sweetness)
- •Walnuts — a handful (crunch)
- •Fresh thyme — a few sprigs (scent)
Dried Figs with Honey, Cheese, and Thyme
Dried figs filled with fresh cheese, drizzled with honey, and perfumed with thyme and walnuts: the treat that accompanies wine during the symposion.
Why this dish? After the deipnon comes the symposion, where wine mixed with water is drunk while nibbling tragêmata, these small sweets. The figs of Boeotia were famous throughout Greece. For a banquet at the court of Thebes, this is the sweet note that closes a king's meal.
When the cups go round and the wine mingles with water in the krater, they bring the figs — those of our Boeotia, which all Greece envies us. We open them, slip a little fresh cheese inside, pour honey, sprinkle thyme from our hills and crushed walnuts. It is a small thing, but it is sweet, and sweetness is rare in times of fraternal discord. Take one, and drink to the health of Thebes — while there is still time.
Ingredients (period version)
- Dried figs — about ten (sweet base)
- Fresh goat cheese — a portion (filling)
- Honey — for drizzling (binding sweetness)
- Walnuts — a handful (crunch)
- Fresh thyme — a few sprigs (scent)
Ingredients
- Soft dried figs — 10-12 (base)
- Fresh goat cheese — 100 g (filling)
- Honey (thyme honey preferred) — 3 tbsp (drizzle)
- Walnut halves — 50 g (crunch)
- Fresh thyme — 4-5 sprigs (scent)
Method
- If the figs are dry, soak them in warm water for 10 minutes to soften, then pat dry.
- Slit each fig on top without cutting in half and fill with a little fresh cheese.
- Coarsely crush the walnuts and sprinkle over the figs.
- Drizzle generously with honey and strip fresh thyme leaves over the top.
- Serve at room temperature, ideally with a glass of sweet wine mixed with water to stay true to the symposion.
How it was made : Figs, fresh or dried, were among the most beloved fruits of the Greeks and a staple of the tragêmata of the symposion, along with walnuts, olives, and honey cakes. Dried, they kept all winter and even sustained athletes. Sugar did not exist: honey was the only concentrated sweetener.
The contemporary twist : Arrange as bites on a slate board, a sprig of thyme per fig — a "sweet-savory meze" worthy of a court table.
Sources : Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Deipnosophists, Book XIV (on tragêmata and figs) · Andrew Dalby, Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece (1996)
Eteocles · Charactorium
