The fig is one of the oldest known fruits in the world but is referred to as the ‘poor man's food’. It is mentioned in the Bible, Koran and Torah. Alexander III of Macedon (Alexander the Great) took dried figs on military campaigns as they were perfect for restoring strength.

For me, these tear-dropped shaped fruits are delicious freshly picked. When I lived in Andalusia, I bought a tree from the local market in La Cala and planted it in the corner of my garden overlooking the burnt orange rooftops and beyond to the Alboran Sea - here it thrived and produced an abundance of fruit.

The variety I am using today is Turkish Bursa, a rich and jammy variety with a honey flavour. The Bursa region is stunning: a region of sun-soaked steep hills looking out onto the Sea of Marmara. 95% of black figs in Turkey are produced in this relatively small geographical area by a patchwork of small growers.

Here, the fig is mostly associated with sweet products such as conserve and our all time childhood favourite, the fig roll - not British or American but invented by medieval Muslims as a health food. Sugar was seen as a medicine that kept the body balanced and cleansed; one medieval doctor even urged his patients to gorge on biscuits filled with figs and nuts to cure all ills! Figs are healthy and have more fibre than prunes and more potassium than bananas.

In this dish, figs are served with seared beef, peppery leaves, nuts, herbs and flowers with a piquant dressing. #GoldenApron23