My mother, who came from the Piemonte region of Italy always used to prepare strawberries this way, so I suppose this must be an Italian or Piemontese recipe.
For me though these strawberries are the taste of my childhood summers and I can barely eat them prepared any other way. And everyone I've ever served them to has agreed.
Take a punnet of strawberries, rinse them in a sieve or colander, remove the leaves and slice them into halves or quarters depending on the size of the strawberries.
Put them in your prettiest serving dish (it doesn't matter if there's a bit of water clinging to them, but don't drown them), spoon over two tablespoons of granulated sugar and the juice of half a medium lemon. Stir.
Leave them in the fridge overnight and you will be rewarded by soft strawberries dripping with the most delicious juices known to man. Mysteriously, the acid of the lemon brings out the juices though it doesn't make them taste particularly lemony.
I love these eaten with cream, in trifle or poured over pavlova or for breakfast spooned over muesli with a spoonful of thick Greek yoghurt.
Another variation of the strawberries + sugar + acid trick is to substitute a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar for the lemon juice. This has the same effect of bringing out the juices though this time it will taste as if you've doused your strawberries in a strange but delicious liqueur.
Sounds wonderful. I have had the Balsamic version - delicious. Tomorrow I will buy strawberries and try it. Thanks
Posted by: Di Overton | May 23, 2007 at 10:42 PM
That sounds amazing! I'm in luck-I just bought a bin or organic strawberries. I'm going to try it!
Posted by: Rachelle | May 25, 2007 at 01:29 AM
So? Were they good? (I get nervous when people say they're actually going to follow my recipes...)
Posted by: paola | May 25, 2007 at 08:02 AM
Oh such sweet torture, my strawberries have only just made flowers, lord knows when there will be friut to try this out on. I can hardly wait.
Posted by: cally | May 29, 2007 at 10:55 PM