Skip to main content

Dried Fig Jam with Mastic, Aniseed, and Walnuts

The flavors here are rich and exciting.

Ingredients

2 pounds dried figs
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon ground aniseed
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon pulverized mastic (optional)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Chop the figs roughly.

    Step 2

    Boil the sugar and water with the lemon juice for a few minutes, then add the figs, and simmer gently until they are soft and impregnated with the syrup, which should have thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir constantly to avoid burning.

    Step 3

    Add the aniseed, pine nuts and walnuts, and the mastic if you like. (To be properly pulverized, the mastic must have been pounded or ground with a pinch of sugar.) Stir well, and cook a few minutes longer.

    Step 4

    Pour into clean glass jars and let it cool, then close tightly.

Cover of Claudia Roden's The New Book of Middle Easter Food, featuring a blue filigree bowl filled with Meyer lemons and sprigs of mint.
Reprinted with permission from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, copyright © 2000 by Claudia Roden, published by Knopf. Buy the full book on Amazon or Bookshop.
Read More
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
Like tiny tomato galettes and chimichurri grilled shrimp.
Filberts, goobers, scaly bark nuts: Explore the world beyond almonds in this guide.
Like swordfish steaks with tomatoes and Peruvian-style tofu.
Loosely inspired by pasta Amatriciana, a few pounds of zucchini stand in for tomatoes.
No grill needed for this just-charred-enough sweet and spicy chicken.
Invert the ratio of gin to vermouth for a party-friendly and slightly lighter drinking experience.
Thinly sliced and cooked hot and fast, pork tenderloin is the juicy, cook-quicking weeknight champion of this vegetable-heavy stir-fry.