Strawberries are the superheroes of the berry family. They even wear their undies (seeds!) on the outside! They’re hardier than raspberries, more tender than blueberries, and won’t stain your teeth like a handful of mulberries might.
And plus, what other berry gets its own berth as an unofficial symbol of a grand slam, bobbing about on a cloud of cream at Wimbledon?
I had my own grand experience with this combo on the other side of London, when I swung by food writer Claudia Roden’s place on my last visit. Claudia served a bowl of chantilly cream, some luscious early summer strawbs and a box of bikkies from the shops. Just when I thought she’d gifted me (and the world!) enough with that whole-orange cake, the simplicity and elegance of this spread reminded me of how to think laterally about entertaining.
Speaking of lateral, between their garnet gloss and juicy yet taut tuchuses, strawberries don’t only belong in your sweeties: they’re a surprisingly good stand-in for tomatoes too.
The two share many flavour compounds. In her book The Flavour Thesaurus, food writer Niki Segnit explains that in the mid-1990s, Australian-born chemist Ron G Buttery and a team of researchers in California discovered tomatoes contain a chemical compound known as strawberry furanone. This is the tangy, jammy aroma mainly associated with ripe strawbs and pineapple, but high concentrations can also be found in homegrown tomatoes in the peak of summer.
Anything tomatoes can do, strawberries can do sooner! It’s a couple of months until toms are at their sunny best, while strawberries are looking good and smelling great right now. (Incidentally, aroma is how I pick both my strawbs and toms at the shops.)
Like tossing your toms with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and finishing with basil and mozzarella? I see a strawberry caprese in your future.
More of a rocket man? Crack a heap of black pepper and slug some olive oil over your strawbs, toss about with rocket just before serving and shave some parmesan over the top.
Ready to game-set-match your strawberries and cream? The recipe below turns it into a savoury surprise with stretchy stracciatella and a spiced orange dressing that has a touch of Roden to it. If you can’t find stracciatella, use a big ball of burrata (or several) on top of a tumble of these dressed strawbs.
after newsletter promotion
Strawberries and stracciatella with orange and star anise dressing – recipe
A cursory glance at the ingredients might confound you – is this dessert? – but the sweetness of the maple, strawbs and orange is perfect against the tang of good vinegar and pungency of dijon mustard. It’s the kind of agrodolce freshness you could dish up as an entree, on a salad-loaded spread or even as a cheese course.
This would make a great bring-a-plate too. Bring the stracciatella, macerated strawberries and dressing separately, along with your final bits and bobs, then bring it all together at your final destination.
500g strawberries, topped and quartered
½ red onion, halved lengthways and finely sliced with the grain
1 tsp maple syrup
¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
½ tsp salt flakes
Orange and star anise dressing
Zest and juice of half an orange
2-3 star anise
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp chardonnay vinegar (or any quality white vinegar)
60ml extra-virgin olive oil (¼ cup)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
To serve
600g stracciatella
¼ cup basil leaves, loosely packed
1 tbsp crushed pistachios
Extra-virgin olive oil
To make the dressing, combine the ingredients in a bowl, whisk together with a fork, taste for seasoning, then leave to infuse for as long as possible (ideally overnight, but 15 minutes minimum).
Pop strawberries and onion slices in another bowl and drizzle with the maple syrup, salt and pepper. Leave to macerate for 15 minutes.
When ready to serve, fish out the star anise from the dressing. Choose a large serving platter with a lip and schmear with stracciatella. Tumble the strawberries and onion over the top, drizzle liberally with the orange dressing, sprinkle over basil leaves and crushed pistachios, and finish with a final glug of olive oil just before serving.
