Food Garden Life Show: Helping You Harvest More from Your Edible Garden, Vegetable Garden, and Edible Landscaping

Coconut. Almond. Green fig.These are some of the flavours people use to describe what they taste when Chef David Salt serves something flavoured with fig leaves.Salt cooked with fig leaves in London, England, where he had a ready source of fig leaves in a nearby churchyard.Upon relocating to Toronto, he didn’t know where to find them.And that’s when host Steven Biggs received an enquiry that read:“I am looking for fig leaves to make dishes with at my restaurant (fig leaf ice cream, jelly, savoury sauces, custards etc.) Is there any possibility of getting some from you, before they fall for the winter?”Salt got some fig leaves, and invited Biggs to the restaurant to taste his fig-leaf ice cream, fig-leaf cheese—and a fig leaf grappa!Cooking with Fig LeavesSalt says that the most classic method of using fig leaves is in the same way as banana leaves — as a wrap. When used as a wrap, they protect the enclosed meat or fish, keeping it moist. They also impart a unique flavour.When cooking with fig leaves, the leaf is used to wrap food, or an infusion used to pull out the fig-leaf flavour.The flavour is delicate. Salt finds it pairs well with light-flavoured meats or fish; and light-flavoured fruit such as strawberries and blueberries.But he says to be creative: He’s paired fig leaves with hot chocolate, a strong taste, and found worked well.His favourite dish made using fig leaves is ice cream.For people using fig leaves for the first time, he explains that heat can help to bring out the flavour—but to avoid boiling, which results in a stewed-vegetable flavour. When time permits, a cold infusion is best.Drifter’s SolaceSalt is gearing up to create fig-leaf flavoured foods this fall at his brand new chef’s-table style restaurant in Toronto. It’s called Drifter’s Solace. Toronto has lots of big restaurants. Drifters Solace is at the opposite end of the spectrum: It’s small and personal, for groups of 6-8 people.

Show Notes

Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Coconut. Almond. Green fig.

These are some of the flavours people use to describe what they taste when Chef David Salt serves something flavoured with fig leaves.

Salt cooked with fig leaves in London, England, where he had a ready source of fig leaves in a nearby churchyard.

Upon relocating to Toronto, he didn’t know where to find them.

And that’s when host Steven Biggs received an enquiry that read:

“I am looking for fig leaves to make dishes with at my restaurant (fig leaf ice cream, jelly, savoury sauces, custards etc.) Is there any possibility of getting some from you, before they fall for the winter?”

Salt got some fig leaves, and invited Biggs to the restaurant to taste his fig-leaf ice cream, fig-leaf cheese—and a fig leaf grappa!

Cooking with Fig Leaves
Salt says that the most classic method of using fig leaves is in the same way as banana leaves — as a wrap. When used as a wrap, they protect the enclosed meat or fish, keeping it moist. They also impart a unique flavour.

When cooking with fig leaves, the leaf is used to wrap food, or an infusion used to pull out the fig-leaf flavour.

The flavour is delicate. Salt finds it pairs well with light-flavoured meats or fish; and light-flavoured fruit such as strawberries and blueberries.

But he says to be creative: He’s paired fig leaves with hot chocolate, a strong taste, and found worked well.

His favourite dish made using fig leaves is ice cream.

For people using fig leaves for the first time, he explains that heat can help to bring out the flavour—but to avoid boiling, which results in a stewed-vegetable flavour. When time permits, a cold infusion is best.

Drifter’s Solace
Salt is gearing up to create fig-leaf flavoured foods this fall at his brand new chef’s-table style restaurant in Toronto. It’s called Drifter’s Solace. 

Toronto has lots of big restaurants. Drifters Solace is at the opposite end of the spectrum: It’s small and personal, for groups of 6-8 people.

 
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There’s a whole world inside figs. I explore it in my Fig Culture podcast—varieties, recipes, collectors, and the stories behind them.

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What is Food Garden Life Show: Helping You Harvest More from Your Edible Garden, Vegetable Garden, and Edible Landscaping?

Want to grow your own food but need creative ideas so you can get the most from your space and your growing zone? Our passion is the edible garden.

We help people grow food on balconies, in backyards, and beyond—whether it’s edible landscaping, a vegetable garden, container gardens, or a home orchard.

There are many ways to approach edible landscaping. Find out how to harvest enough fruit, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. Get top tips for exotic crops. And learn how to garden in a way that suits any situation.

Host Steven Biggs was recognized by Garden Making magazine as one of the “green gang” making a difference in Canadian horticulture. His home-garden experiments span driveway straw-bale gardens, a rooftop kitchen garden, fruit plantings, and an edible-themed front yard. He's a horticulturist, award-winning broadcaster and author, and former horticulture instructor with George Brown and Durham Colleges in Ontario, Canada.

Get started with one of our fan favourites. Season 6, Episode 10: Big Harvests from a Small Space with a Vertical Vegetable Garden.