Figs - fresh

You pay good money for a Saran-wrapped plastic punnet of fresh figs from Whole Foods and too often when you unwrap them from their plastic bandaging, some of them are hard as marbles while others are damp and rotting.

Buy them loose at, believe it or not, the Giant on Newark St NW and Wisconsin Ave NW, and pick out the best.

You'll always be able to do that at Middle East markets such as Yekta, 1488-A Rockville Pike, Rockville, 301 984 1190 and Oriental markets like H Mart, 8103 Lee Hwy, Merrifield, 703 573 6300 and 12015 Georgia Ave, 301 942 5071.

You'll always find the purple ones in season at both kinds of market. But the green ones are more readily available at Middle East market.

Both are wonderful with a creamy blue cheese, like St Agur, or a hard, aged goats cheese, like a Cabecou or Clacbitou, all three French cheeses. They also marry well in a salad with paper-thin slices of prosciutto torn into wide ribbons and served with arugula and a ripped ball of bufala mozzarella, dressed with a balsamic vinegar dressing.

Just don't eat too many of them. Uniformed British nannies to the children of the aristocracy made it a daily ritual to administer a spoonful of syrup of figs to keep their charges 'regular'.

Dried figs, loose or strung together, can be bought at Yekta and at Yasaman Bakery, among other Middle East markets. Look for the tiny round ones at Yekta.

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