Luscious. These sounded slightly fussy and icky to me before I tried them. And in truth, when I made Deborah Madison's recipe for broiled figs with mascarpone cheese a year ago, I found them too rich and oily. But the other day, tired of that slight irritation about the mouth I get from eating a basketful of raw figs, I cut a bunch of dark-skinned, farmer's market figs in half and put them under the broiler. In a spinach salad with goat cheese and my parents' fuji apples and balsamic vinaigrette, they were sumptuous. So soft, sweet, smooth. One of those foods I feel unworthy of.
