Summer Strawberry Heaven

Strawberries are my absolute favourite fruit (right up there with lemons) - in fact 'strawberry' was one of the first words I learned when I set foot in Italy: fragola (sing.), or fragole (pl.) and even though they're easy to find I think of them as a little luxury food.

Italians (at least the ones I know personally) don't serve with white sugar and fresh cream - à la Wimbledon - but with sugar (whichever type you prefer) and fresh-squeezed lemon juice. It's a good match...the contrast of the tartness in the juice-syrup and the sweetness and texture of the strawberries - delicious! As I have also come to love the lime (#makemineamojito), I now add a few squirts of fresh lime juice as well, which gives a very perfumey-rose-type flavour. 

The Strawberry:
I only recently learned they're not considered a fruit because their seeds are on the outside. Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries; so now the Italian word for strawberry (fragola), and the French word (fraise), makes much more sense.

Health benefits:
Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamins C and K, plus some fibre, folic acid, manganese, potassium and iodine. They contain significant amounts of phyto-nutrients and antioxidant flavanoids, thought to protect against inflammation, heart disease and even cancer, plus they contain something called anthocyanins, which gives them their bright red colour. Studies have shown that the high potassium content (as with bananas) helps improve cognitive function by increasing the blood flow to the brain, and therefore strengthening concentration, memory, and recall abilities, and iodine which is helpful for regulating the proper functioning of the brain and nervous system.

The strawberry has been used throughout history to help with digestive ailments, teeth whitening and skin irritations. The fibre and fructose content may help regulate blood sugar levels by slowing digestion and the fibre is thought to have a hunger-calming effect - again, in my case this hasn't worked because once I start eating strawberries I actually can't stop until they're all gone! 

Leaves can be eaten raw, cooked or used to make tea - however, as this is considered a herbal remedy, it is important to check with your doctor, if you're taking any medication, to ascertain whether or not there could be any interactions. As a tea, this is most commonly used to improve digestion and balance acids in the digestive tract, purportedly helping alleviate an upset stomach and reduce symptoms of nausea, bloating, stomach cramps and diarrhoea.
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History:
Strawberries have been enjoyed since the Roman times. Native to many parts of the world, hundreds of varieties of strawberries exist due to crossbreeding techniques. In 1714, a French engineer observed that the strawberry native to Chile was much larger than those found in Europe. He decided to bring back a sample of this strawberry to cultivate in France. The end result was a large, juicy, sweet hybrid (the modern garden strawberry) that became extremely popular in Europe. 

Not far from Rome, in surrounding woodlands near the pretty lakeside town of Nemi, small dark-coloured wild strawberries grow. The local pastry shops make them into the most delectable tarts with these tiny wild strawberries and confectioner's custard - heavenly! I was lucky to visit one of these pastry shops with Laran Tours of Lazio and I have to say it was sooo worth it! And, each year (end May/early June during strawberry season) in this gorgeous little town a Strawberry Festival takes place, where streets are lined with strawberry bunting and all other manner of strawberry references - even the buildings are pink!

What to drink with your strawberries?
This depends on how you decide to serve them. With the way I usually prepare mine, an ice-cold shot of Limoncello does very well, or a chilled Strawberry Mojito or Strawberry-Rose Gin Fizz cocktail. If you're fancying wine, choose white or rosè, either with bubbles or without - I love the wines from the Lazio region: Amoenus Spumante by Cantina Bacco, Bellone Spumante Brut by Omina Romana, Casale del Giglio's Abiola Rosato, and Pacchiarotti's Pian di Stelle Rosato which has a hint of roses to it.

Strawberry Recipes

Eton Mess - or it might be 'just a mess'  :) 
Ingredients

• 3 egg whites (from free range happy hens - Italian egg codes: if the code printed onto each egg starts with '0' or '1', it's ok)
• 1 pinch salt
• 175g - I used 150g white sugar + 25g soft brown sugar (original recipe calls for white caster sugar - see sugar glossary)
• 500ml double cream (I'm using sour cream (panna acida) and philadelphia in equal parts, since double cream (panna doppia) is really hard to find in Italy)
• 500g strawberries (I'm using cranberries today as I used up all the strawbs in the tiramisu)
• 1 vanilla pod or circa 10 drops of pure vanilla essence (or adjust the number of drops to taste) On this occasion I'm using a squeeze of fresh lime.
• 1 tbsp icing sugar

1. preheat oven to 110°C and line 2 trays with parchment/baking paper.
2. place egg whites and a pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl and begin to whisk. Gradually add the sugar until you have stiff whites and all the sugar added.
3. use a spatula to spread the whipped whites over the trays. The meringue will be crushed up later, so the shape is not important.
4. place in the pre-heated oven to dry out and crisp. My meringue took about 90 minutes but it could probably have done with slightly longer in order for it to be less chewy although the combination of crisp & chewy is rather yummy! Remove the meringue when it sounds hollow and brittle when you tap it.
5. whip the cream, but take care not to over-whip (if using the sour cream/philly combination just mix together well with a small amount of sugar and juice of half a lime). If sticking to the original recipe you can add vanilla seeds and icing sugar into the mix.
6. add half the strawberries (cranberries) to the cream and stir in. Break up the meringue into rough one-inch-sized bits, and add most (but not all) of the meringue to the cream.
7. layer the cream in glasses (use a shape that will look pretty and will show the layers), alternating with most of the other half of the strawberries/cranberries and meringue.​
8. finish off with the last of the strawberries/cranberries and a crunchy topping of meringue then serve at once.

Recipe variation from my own kitchen. As an alternative Jamie Oliver's does look nice

 Traditional no-bake Cheesecake with Strawberry Topping
Ingredients:

• 250g digestive biscuits, crushed
• 100g butter, melted
• 250ml double cream (for a lesser amount of cream cheese I used 150ml)
• 600g cream cheese, softened (lactose-free philadelphia) (for the lesser amount of cream cheese I used 350g of philadelphia)
• 85g icing sugar + I also put 50g into the cream cheese mix
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used 2 tsp)
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (I used 1 tsp)

Topping

• 400g strawberries
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar

1. Line a 23cm springform cake tin with baking parchment. Combine the digestives and butter in a bowl and mix well. Press into the base of the prepared cake tin. Chill in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the double cream until light and fluffy, then mix in the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice and icing sugar. Remove the base from the fridge and spoon into the prepared cake tin and smooth over the biscuit base. Gently smooth the top of the cheesecake.
   
3. Chill in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight.
4. Blend half of the strawberries in a food processor with the icing sugar then press through a sieve (add a little water or strawberry fruit juice to make a runnier consistency if necessary). I didn't use a blender..I finely chopped instead (thus keeping all of the strawberries instead of sieving some away) and didn't use any extra liquids.
5. Remove the cheesecake from the fridge and carefully pop out of the cake tin and place on a serving plate. Arrange the remainder of the fresh strawberries on top of the cheesecake then pour over the strawberry sauce.

​Classic recipe found on various baking websites

Strawberry Tiramisu
Ingredients:

• 500g marscapone - I like Galbani and Mila (both senza lattosio/lactose-free).
• 100ml double cream (substitute with single cream or whipping cream (whipped) as Italy doesn't have double cream)
• 4 tbsp caster sugar (I used 100g soft brown sugar in an attempt to be vaguely healthy)
• 8 boudoir biscuits (Savoiardi)
• 20 large strawberries - some chopped into the mix and some to decorate the top.

For the strawberry syrup

• pure strawberry juice (couldn't find this so improvised with organic cranberry juice 300g + 100ml of pure woodland fruit puree)

• 2 tbsp sugar (I used soft brown sugar but it was closer to 200g and I reduced it in a pan until it started to taste of toffee)

1. put syrup ingredients into a small pan stirring until sugar is dissolved. Turn off and allow to cool. 
2. lay the fingers at the bottom of a serving dish, or divide between 4 serving glasses. Pour over the strawberry syrup. 
3. whip together the marscapone, cream, sugar and strawberries. top the fingers with a layer of the strawberry cream. 
4. leave to chill in the fridge. just before serving chop the last of the strawberries on top (don't do this earlier or they'll go soggy).

Adapted from a lemon tiramisu recipe by James Martin
I'm not 100% convinced with this one. I'll always love the classic version (made using egg), and the zing of the lemon version, but I'd been wanting to try a strawberry version for a while - however, it is lacking something (not sure what), so I need to experiment more to get it tasting fabulous.

If any budding pastry chefs out there have any of their own variations, I'd love to hear about them :)  ​​

Strawberry-Rose Gin Fizz cocktail
Ingredients:

• 6 large attractive strawberries
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 4 shots gin (if you don't like gin, sub with white rum or vodka)
• 1 teaspoon rose water
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup club soda (or, to taste)

1. wash and de-stem the strawberries and dice into small pieces.
2. sprinkle sugar over the top of the strawberries and allow to sit for 5 minutes, then, mash the strawberries with a fork to release their juices.
3. fill a cocktail shaker with ice, and add the strawberry mixture, gin, rose water and a pinch of salt. Shake, then divide between two glasses.
4. top each glass off with club soda and squeeze a lime wedge into each glass.

Recipe from Dessert for Two

Strawberry Mint Basil Summer Cocktail
Ingredients:

• 4 cups strawberries, hulled
• ¼ cup fresh mint
• 1 cup fresh basil
• ½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice (approximately 2 oranges)
• 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice (approximately 1 lemon)
• 2 cups club soda
• 5-6 tablespoons light agave nectar, or to taste
• ½ cup Grand Marnier (optional)

1. Puree all ingredients in a blender.
2. Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer to remove the herbs.
3. Serve over ice.

Recipe from Savory Simple

Trivia:
The precise history of the Eton Mess is somewhat blurry - apparently known by this name since the 19th century and traditionally served at Eton College's annual cricket match against the pupils of Harrow School.

How did the strawberry get it's name? Well the season in the UK runs from May to July, so in order for farmers to achieve maximum yields during this short season, they must protect emerging berries from the muddy soil (since it often rains in Britain). They do this by spreading a layer of straw around each new plant - hence the name straw-berry.   ​

Strawberries in Art: in the early 15th century, western European monks were using the wild strawberry in their illuminated manuscripts, and is found in Italian, Flemish, and German art, and in English miniatures.
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