Violet Fig – Extra Jam

Figue Violette Fig Jam from Solliès

Alain Milliat’s Figue Violette Extra Jam is a French fig preserve made from purple figs from the Solliès region. Intensely fruity, slightly chunky, and not too sweet. A fig jam that loves croissants just as much as it does cheese.

Fig jam of this quality is a little celebration: Alain Milliat's Figue Violette brings fully ripened purple figs from the southern French region of Solliès into a 300g jar. It tastes of ripe fruit rather than sugar, with the grainy texture that only a real fig can provide.

Velvety, grainy, with a dark sweetness

The moment you open the jar, it fills the air with the scent of ripe, sun-warmed figs.

The jam is deep purple, slightly chunky, and interlaced with the fine seeds of the fig that provide that typical bite. On the palate, a dark, mild sweetness unfolds with a hint of honey. Velvety, fruity, and grainy on bread—a fruit with depth.

That is the essence of an Extra jam: lots of fruit, minimal extras. The sugar steps back to let the fig lead with its calm, dark sweetness. This is what a fruit tastes like when harvested just before bursting and carefully preserved.

The fig is one of the oldest cultivated fruits in existence, and in Southern France, it is as much a part of late summer as the sun. In this jam, that moment is captured—a piece of September that you spread on your bread in winter. Its seeds crackle softly, a delicate little pleasure.

With goat cheese and Pecorino

This fig jam feels just as at home on the breakfast table as it does on a cheese board.

It is a delight on a croissant, but its finest hour comes alongside cheese: it is a perfect match for fresh goat cheese, Pecorino, or a mild blue cheese. It also holds its own on a piece of aged hard cheese with a glass of red wine—a wonderful combination. If you like sweet and fruity, serve it alongside our Apricot Extra Jam.

A dab of fig on a tarte flambée with goat cheese or served with ham makes for a quick appetizer. You can find more for your breakfast table right nearby.

For an apéro, serve it on a cracker with cream cheese and half a walnut for a little greeting from Provence. Figs pair just as well with salty flavors as they do with sweet, which is what makes them so versatile.

Purple figs from the South of France

The purple figs for this jam grow south of Lyon in the Solliès region, the "fig garden" of France.

They are picked fully ripe, only when they are just about to burst, because as Alain always emphasizes, the flavor is created on the tree. The riper the fig, the fuller the sweetness in the jar. Alain Milliat, himself a fruit grower from Orliénas near Lyon, took over the family farm in 1983 and managed it for 15 years before he began bringing fruit to the same level of quality he was accustomed to with wine in 1997.

He sent his first six juices to 60 top restaurants, and the enthusiasm of the sommeliers proved him right. The fruits come from various regions of France, and the fig jam is cooked in the Rhône department near Lyon. What has been true for his juices since 1997 applies just as much here in this jar. The full story is told in our portrait of Alain Milliat; you can find other varieties in our jams section. Simply impressive.