Christmas- a time for Fig Bonbons

Well, I say it was a time for Fig Bonbons, but in truth, I hardly mean that you couldn't move for them in the shops. However, in both Carluccio's (the chain of cafe/delis founded by Antonio Carluccio which needs little introduction) and Brindisa (Spanish food specialists), you could find two lovely variations on what you might call collectively a fig bonbon.

But don't be fooled, these are no bonbons like the lemon or strawberry chewy, marble-sized sweets dusted in sugary powder that you used to see sitting in big jars on shelves on the wall of the village post office. In fact, the term "bonbon" probably more generally describes something sweet, often enrobed in chocolate.

And enrobed in chocolate they are.

These are rabitos royale, what the Spanish call bombón de higo which you've probably realised translates to fig bonbons.

These delightful little sweeties are composed of three separate layers almost like an mini-globe with a thin, brittle milk chocolate coating that breaks away to reveal a juicy yet crunchy (thanks to the seeds) Mediterranean dried fig which bursts under minimal pressure to reveal a rich chocolate truffle and brandy filling has somehow found its way to the centre.

They are delicious and a triumph of the "la higuera" company which created the recipe for the rabito royale in 1989. The company is still family owned by the children of the original creators, Senador Valero and Felipa Nieva.

Exhibit B are Fichi Ricoperti from Carluccio's which was part of their Christmas offering for 2011. Unfortunately, at the time of this post, all of these delicious Calabrian delicacies have been hastily consumed and I'm only able to give you an idea of the traditional style packaging that they came in. Not exactly the visual impact I would ideally want to make but hopefully conveys just how irresistible they were.

This time, the figs are stuffed with walnuts from Sorrento and orange peel from Reggio Calabria before being drizzled in the finest dark Belgian chocolate. The quality of the figs really shone through on these also, it being clear that producers Roberto Aloisio and family have gone to great lengths to ensure you only get the very best Italian fichi.


After all, for everything that these talented producers do to them, these bonbons are all about the figs.

For a recipe for a simple rum fig bonbons, click here- http://gastrotom.blogspot.com/2012/01/recipe-chocolate-fig-bonbons.html

Carluccios- http://www.carluccios.com/
Brindisa- http://www.brindisa.com/
http://bombondehigo.com/en/index.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/8936590/Pastries-from-Calabria-to-Carluccios.html#disqus_thread

Gastro Tom

Follow me on Twitter- @GastroTomBlog  twitter.com/GastroTomBlog