How to make the most of a punnet of strawberries

“Strawberries are the masterpiece of summer,” says Ravinder Bhogal, Guardian columnist and chef/owner of Jikoni in London. At their peak, you’d be hard pushed to better eating them straight from the punnet (cream optional, but encouraged), but, Bhogal adds, pairing strawberries with floral waters such as rose or elderflower comes a very close second. “I love a strawberry and rose sorbet, or a traditional Victoria sponge made with strawberry and rose jam, cream and fresh strawberries macerated in rosewater,” she says.

Strawberries appreciate simplicity, so macerating them is a no-brainer at the best of times. Chef Lorcan Spiteri, of Caravel, a restaurant on a converted barge in north London, slices his fruit thinly, then adds icing sugar and lemon juice and leaves for 20 minutes or so. “We then use them as a topping for various things,” he says, of which there are numerous options: “Puff pastry and frangipane with a bit of crème diplomat [creme patissière mixed with chantilly cream] and the macerated strawberries on top. Or make a kind of Eton mess with macerated strawberries and meringue. Or blitz the strawberries into a coulis and use that to top vanilla ice-cream with some nuts.”

For Nicholas Balfe, founder/chef director of Holm in Somerset, and Oli Brown, chef/co-owner of Updown Farmhouse in Kent, great minds think alike, because they’d both get those berries on the barbecue. “They get a nice, smoky, woody flavour and add a bit of pizzazz to panna cottas,” says Brown, who would be inclined to add a spritz of grappa to proceedings, too. Balfe, meanwhile, puts his strawberries in a sieve, gets them on the grill, then tosses them in a syrup infused with chamomile flowers: “That would be delicious with a set custard-type thing, almost like a creme caramel.”

You also can’t go far wrong with a classic clafoutis. “Strawberries are really lovely baked in a batter,” says Balfe, who dusts his with icing sugar and serves them with creme fraiche or ice-cream for a cracking summer pud. “The key is to make the batter the day before and leave it to rest overnight,” he says. “Then, roast the strawberries in a cast-iron skillet, chuck in the batter and it will puff up nicely like a Yorkshire pudding.” While that’s lovely eaten straight away, it can also be served at room temperature, so it’s a good make-ahead option to keep in your back pocket.

If, however, you’re in the mood for something savoury, Bhogal starts by picking strawberries that aren’t too sweet and pairs them with cheese, such as burrata. The berries also work well muddled into a salad dressing, notes Balfe, who does this with sherry, white-wine or moscatel vinegar, some oil, maybe a touch of mustard. “It heightens the flavours of things such as tomatoes, and it works well with slightly bitter leaves as well.” Otherwise, turn strawberries into ketchup, use them to infuse vinegar, sugar and water (Brown might throw in rosemary or thyme, too) for a drinking vinegar, or even get them pickled: “Make a simple pickle liquor with white-wine vinegar, sugar and aromatics like rosemary, thyme or even a bit of chilli, then drop in the strawberries,” Brown says. “The pickled fruit would be delicious with a joint of roast pork with gravy, and cuts through the fat.” Now that’s sweet.

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