I made a drink — not with the fruit, but with the leaves of my Hive fig trees. (They’re still young, less than a year old, so it’ll be a while before I see any fruit.)
The “Hive fig” comes from @livinguktaiwan — during last year’s Hive Fest, she shared some figs from her host, and they were so delicious that I brought some back to home and grew them myself. Now I have two trees in the garden and about five more on the balcony. One of them stands right next to my chili plant. You can see it in the photo below next to the chili.
In Slow Drinks by Danny Childs — who was a mentor for our Slow Drink group at Terra Madre Americas — I learned that fig leaves can also be used in drinks. Apparently, you can infuse milk with them by simmering the leaves gently.
So I tried warming my bedtime milk with a single fig leaf. The milk took on a green, slightly unripe fig aroma — subtle, strange, and somehow beautiful. A touch of honey made it just right.
It's said fig leaves smell a bit like coconut. So I thought maybe it suits late spring or early summer better than the cold season. Anyways, I'm so happy to use the fig tree for the first time and expand my knowledge of plants and cooking.
Did you know fig leaves can be used this way? I’d love to try infusing them in a drink or even in a homemade amaro next time 🍃
Hiveイチヂクで料理というか、飲み物を作りました。使ったのは実ではなくて葉っぱです（まだ1年もたっていない木たちなので実はもうちょっとかかりそう）。Hiveイチヂクとは、去年Hive Fest期間中に @livinguktaiwan さんが滞在先のホストのイチヂクを分けてくれたのがあまりにおいしくて、その種から育てているイチヂクです。庭に2本植えて、バルコニーで5本ほど育てています。唐辛子の右隣に一本います。
Terra Madre AmericasのSlow DrinkグループのメンターでもあったDanny Childsさんの著書『Slow Drinks』で、イチヂクは葉っぱも使えると知りました。調べてみると、牛乳で煮て味を移すこともできるとのことで、寝る前のホットミルクを温めるときにイチヂクの葉を一枚加えて煮てみました。
まだ熟しきっていないちょっと青いイチヂクの味というか香りというかが牛乳に移って、何とも不思議なおいしさでした。甘みがあるとおいしいかなとハチミツを足したらよい感じでした。イチヂクの葉の香りは「ココナッツのような香り」と形容されることもあるようで、爽やかさがちょっと秋冬とはズレるかもしれません。晩春や初夏のホットミルク向きかな？とも思いました。
みなさんはイチヂクの葉をこんなふうにして使えるって知っていましたか？お酒につけても良いようで、こちらも研究したいなと思いました。
What???!!! They've grown into trees already? That's great news!!
Funny enough, I saw a reel on social media today where a guy used fig leaves to make a drink. He infused in a saucepan of water and sugar to make a cold drink. I think he also mentioned something about coconut aroma as well, but it didn't pay much attention to it, I wished I had now
Seems the leaves can be used for cooking too. I found the name in Chez Panisse menu :)
Again thank you for sharing the tasty figs @livinguktaiwan 😊