My mate M. stayed over the other night. We fish together once a month and because he's from Bendigo (an hour and a half drive), M. comes down in the afternoon, the day before. He always brings something with him, usually apples from Harcourt (an apple growing town), maybe some honey, not the watered down supermarket stuff, but the thick, rich and very sweet honey that can only be bought in the country.

Well we got our apples, new season gravensteins, unwaxed, aromatic and sharp to the taste. We don't buy apples after December, because after sitting around for so long in a cool store, their flavour and texture has gone. We also don't buy many supermarket apples, preferring to make the trip to orchards, as the quality is better, especially after the picking season has ended.

I was talking to Paul at Farnsworth's Apple & Cherry Orchard, at 26 Paringa Road, Red Hill about this, and he suggested that his apples are picked riper, unwaxed, and stored under better conditions. All I can tell you is that they are definitely worth the trip.

M. also brought a bag of figs and a large jar of Seychelle fig chutney, which I tasted and was somewhat surprised to discover it was closer to fig jam than chutney. One thing I have never had much to do with is fresh figs, for no particular reason, so didn't know much about them. We ate a few, skins and all, thinking they were okay, but nothing special. Because we had a big bag of them, which we wanted to use, I checked up on them.

Figs and strawberries are very similar, not that they are related, but are both "false fruits." When you look at a strawberry, you see what appear to be seeds on the outside. These are called achenes, and each achene is an individual fruit containing a single seed. What we think of as the fruit is actually a swollen flower base. The fig is like an inverted strawberry, with the swollen flower base surrounding rather than supporting the achenes or true fruits. Figs are also valued for there sweetness, amongst the highest of all fruits.

In reading about figs, I discovered why they didn't seem particularly tasty. They need to be skinned. Back I went, skinned one, and the full glory of the fig was revealed. Apparently the skin contains a bitter substance that is also a mild skin irritant.

Later on M. helped me to make dinner. We were having pizza, so while I made the dough, M. cooked the tomato sauce base, using crushed tomatoes, garlic and fresh oregano. Then he cooked some sliced onion until it was soft as part of the topping. While the dough was proving, I sliced some mushrooms and stuffed green olives, tore apart some black olives, cut tomatoes into chunks, added a little shaved ham and some sliced green capsicum, mixed in the softened onions, then rolled out the dough. Down went some sauce, a sprinkle of mozzarella, all the topping, another sprinkle of cheese, then into the oven cranked up to its highest setting.

Fifteen minutes later M. had his first taste of homemade pizza. Did he like it? Enough to say, if I was a girl, he would have tried to have his way with me.