How do I use summer fruit– apricots that refuse to soften, cherries, figs, etc – in savoury dishes?
Simon, Bristol
In its raw state, stone fruit can so often disappoint – it’s rare to catch, say, a peach or apricot at its perfect moment. For this reason, baker Dee Rettali suggests turning up the heat. “Apricots baked with capers is a good one, and really nice with rice or a chopped salad,” says the co-founder of Fortitude Bakehouse in London. It couldn’t be simpler, either: stone and halve the fruit, then pop them in the oven with a little water and oil, and roast until softened. Once they’re cool enough to handle, chop into small pieces, then “get some good gherkins and capers, chop them finely with sea salt and black pepper, and fold through the fruit”.
Apricots should also find their way into a Moroccan pastilla pie. “Cook them down, then layer with almonds and mint,” Rettali says. “It’s a fantastic dinner party dish.”
When it comes to cherries, meanwhile, Simon could also look farther east, with zaalouk, a sort of aubergine salad. First, Rettali says, “make a dressing by blitzing sun-dried tomatoes, cherries, sweet paprika and lots of pepper”. Char the aubergines, then chop and transfer to a pan with lemon juice, olive oil and confit garlic, and cook “until it becomes like a paste”. Fold in the cherry and tomato mix, and that’s pretty great eaten with feta.
For Joshua Overington, chef/owner of Mýse in Yorkshire, figs can be used in myriad dishes – “with various proteins, in salads, or even preserves”. There’s currently a pork-and-fig relish number on his restaurant menu, but at home Overington’s “favourite thing is to roast halved figs with sweet onion, hearty herbs [rosemary or sage, say], and a bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, until caramelised and sticky”. You could even utilise the leaves, too. “Use them to wrap meat before cooking – they act as the perfect foil for fatty meat such as duck or pork belly – or dry leaves for fig leaf tea or make an infused lemonade.”
Then, of course, there are salad days. You’ll be hard pushed to better Guardian contributor Ravinder Bhogal’s maftoul salad topped with watermelon infused with rose water or Ed Smith’s chopped grilled peaches from his book Crave, which he combines with basil, olive oil, pistachios and lemon juice, and sits on burrata. Alternatively, transform a glut of strawberries into Rettali’s current go-to dressing: “Put balsamic, basil, lots of strawberries, salt and pepper through a blender with a tiny bit of hot water,” then fold through couscous, quinoa or Rettali’s preferred rye grain with a load of chopped parsley. “My mother would also make an egg salad with a raspberry and orange dressing,” she recalls. “That’s so 1970s, but so gorgeous.”
Finally, as in life, it pays to consider the future, so preserve some summer love for the colder months. Pickled gooseberries or blackberries, for example, work a treat with mackerel, while cherries will come out tops come – dare I say it – Christmas. “Stone them, then put in brine with port and bay leaves,” suggests Rettali, and store in sterilised jars. “They’re a great present, and delicious with cold turkey.”
Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com
