Brevas with arequipe

Combining figs with arequipe It forms a delicious typical dessert from Santa Fe de Bogotá, it is the result of mixing figs cooked in their own syrup with a highly concentrated form of dulce de leche that we commonly call arequipe.

Its elaboration is among the family traditions that Colombians take care to preserve because they value the homemade taste that they knew when they saw their grandmothers making this delicacy. They use to consume it especially in December times, always present on the tables served at Christmas.

History of the figs with arequipe

There is a belief that the figs with arequipe They are typical of Bogota. But the reality is that the figs with arequipe, exquisite and traditional, have their origins in Europe. Figs are typical fruits of the European continent and from those lands they were brought to this American continent.

The figs have been known since ancient times, there are those who maintain that their origin is in the Mediterranean and the Near East. Before the Christian era, in Greece, the eminent philosopher Plato considered them a delicacy and recommended that athletes consume them to improve their performance.

Beyond their history, Colombians have made them part of their gastronomy and prepare them with unbeatable taste and quality. The figs with arequipe are part of their lives since childhood, since they see their parents preserve the tradition of making figs with arequipe.

Brevas with arequipe recipe

Brevas with arequipe

Plateau Dessert

Cooking Colombian

 

Preparation time 30 minutes

Cooking time 2 hours and a half

Total time 3 hours

 

Servings 4 people

Calories 700 Kcal

 

Ingredients

To prepare the brevas for four people, the following ingredients are required:

• twelve figs
• Four hundred grams of papelón or panela
• a stick of cinnamon
• three cloves
• A lemon
• Two liters of water

To prepare the arequipe at home, the following ingredients are necessary:

• two liters of milk
• Half a kilo of sugar
• Whole cinnamon
• A pinch of salt and another of baking soda

Brevas preparation with arequipe

Preparing this delicious dessert is simple and its preparation is relatively quick, without much effort exquisite results are obtained. Hands on the brevas!

Preparation of the figs:

• The brevas they must be washed well, removing fluff and any impurity or irregularity on its surface.
• The stem is cut and two superficial cross-shaped cuts are made on the opposite side.
• Place them with the water in a pot of appropriate size, which does not spill the water when it boils. Just add a little lemon juice to eliminate the bitter taste that the figs initially have.
• Cook them for an hour, until they soften without disintegrating. There are those who cook the figs in a pressure cooker, in which case the cooking time should be about ten minutes from the moment the pot begins its characteristic sound.
• After they are cooked, they are drained from the water and returned to the pot, but now accompanied by a molasses prepared with the papelón, water, cinnamon and the three cloves.
• Cook them in that honey for another hour, pending stirring gently to prevent the figs from sticking to the bottom of the pot, especially in the last minutes of cooking.
• When the hour is up, they are removed from the heat and kept until completely cooled in their own syrup. Then remove them to drain and let them dry for a day.

Preparation of the arequipe:

To prepare a delicious homemade arequipeIn a pot, place the milk, sugar and the rest of the ingredients. Cook for an hour, over medium heat, taking care that the milk does not spill when it boils. This is achieved by regulating the fire. When thickening it must be constantly stirred with a wooden paddle until it detaches from the bottom of the pot. Once this cooking point has been achieved, turn off and remove from the heat and wait fifteen minutes for it to cool.

Assemble the figs with arequipe

With the figs and the arequipe already prepared, what remains is to open the figs in half and fill them with the arequipe. A delicious dessert is already before our eyes.

To store them, the figs must be placed one next to the other, never overlapping so that they do not become deformed. When serving them, it is customary to accompany them with a piece of soft cheese and you can pour a little of the syrup that the figs left in the pot on top. Delicious.

There are those who prefer to serve the whole figs and place a generous portion of arequipe along with a slice of curd or soft fresh cheese.

Tips to make delicious Brevas with arequipe

• To sufficiently eliminate or attenuate the natural bitterness of the brevas, it is advisable to add a little lemon juice or a lemon previously cut into four pieces to the water where they are going to be cooked. That usually solves that detail and makes the flavor of the figs very pleasant.
• The texture of the brevas to fill it must be soft, but firm, consistent. Therefore, care must be taken that they do not exceed the cooking time. A few past cooking brevas will be difficult to fill and very difficult to keep their shape.

Did you know….?

• The figs are simply figs that did not ripen in autumn and that spend the winter in the bush, in their natural conditions, to complete their ripening process in spring.
• The figs are a source of fiber and several types of vitamins, mainly vitamins A and C. For this reason, they are considered to have antioxidant functions.
• They also contain various B vitamins, as well as containing iron, magnesium and calcium.
• Although visually the figs look the same to us as figs, they are usually larger, their flavor is less sweet and their color looks towards pink tones. so they are highly sought after to prepare various types of sweets.
• In case of suffering from diabetes, the consumption of figs with arequipe It must be done with extreme caution because it can cause significant spikes in blood sugar levels.