Taste good, smell good, look good - figs add style and flavour to sweet and savoury dishes.

There were fat purple figs in the markets before Christmas at a special-occasion price. Is the season very early, I wondered, because of the drought? Some fig trees crop twice, a smaller one early in the summer and the main one several weeks later. I hope this means the season will extend for many more weeks.

Fig trees are hardy and notoriously difficult to eradicate. They can reappear from basal suckers after severe frost or fire or even poison. Fig-tree owners will probably have to share their luscious crop with the birds unless they want to net the tree or bag the fruit. Owners of large trees often have fruit to share and this is the time to make fig jam.

I have written more about the varieties of fig available in Australia in The Cook's Companion. My favourite is the White Adriatic, a smaller fig with a green to amber skin and strawberry-red flesh.

This fig is usually available until the end of February. Fig-loving friends prefer the Black Genoa, with deep-purple skin and dark-red pulp.

Because the fruit is so delicate, it should be picked or bought and eaten as soon as possible. If it is slightly underripe, the stem end will ooze a sticky latex sap that can irritate the skin. Figs can be cooked at this stage. If they are to be eaten fresh, store them in a cool spot (not the refrigerator) on a wide paper-lined plate with stems facing up for a day to fully soften.

Figs are marvellously versatile in sweet and savoury dishes. There is the classic combination of thin slices of prosciutto with sliced fig. They are also excellent with triple cream or full-fat cheeses such as gorgonzola. Figs eaten fresh can be peeled or not, as you prefer.

Arrange peeled, quartered, ripe figs in a shallow dish, sprinkle with sugar and a little brandy (or green Chartreuse) and leave for two hours. To serve, spoon over some softly whipped cream and shavings of the very best dark chocolate.

Many varieties have thin skins. To cook these figs, leave the skins on so they don't collapse.

Whole small figs can be dipped in a yeast batter and deep-fried. Drain very well and sprinkle the fritters with cinnamon mixed with castor sugar. Or arrange them in a buttered dish with a little wine and bake to accompany grilled duck, as in the recipe below.

And don't ignore the leaves. Apart from looking beautiful on a cheese platter, fig leaves can be oiled and used to wrap a chunk of fish for the oven or barbecue. The leaves will char and smoulder and give off an aromatic, coconut scent and the fish within will be super-moist. But don't eat the leaves - they don't taste great.

Vino cotto, or vincotto, used in the following recipe, means "cooked wine" and is made by concentrating grape juice and sharpening it with wine vinegar.