THE RED STRAWBERRY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19268, 3 January 1931, Page 20 (Supplement)

THE RED STRAWBERRY.

At the present moment the two garden berries—the gooseberry and the strawberry—are at their best, for though the ripe gooseberries later on will be pleasant for dessert they will lack the delicate flavour of the unripe cooked fruit. And ripe strawberries are acknowledged generally to be the best fruit that grows. To enjoy these red berries to perfection one should pick and eat them straight from the strawberry beds while warm with the rays of the sun. But, alas! in these days this is a treat only for the few, for modern straw-berry-growers do not admit members of the public to their gardens at sixpence a head and allow them to eat their fill, as they did some thirty or forty years ago. The running expenses of a present-day market garden are too great for this kind of thing, even at a much higher fee. Failing the opportunity of such a feast, the next best thing is to buy the fruit from the grower directly it has been picked and eat it as soon as possible. If any should be left over at night it is a good idea to sprinkle with fine sugar and put away in a cool place ready for a fruit salad next day. For strawberry jam it is best to choose the berries rather under than over ripe, and for jelly they should be perfectly ripe, but in no way bruised or soft. It is necessary to use from 12 to 14 ounces of sugar to a pound of strawberries for jam, and a pound of sugar to a pint of strawberry syrup for jelly, and in either case no water must be added. The more quickly the mixture is cooked once the sugar has melt 1 ed the better will be the colour of the preserve.

To turn to green gooseberries, though stewed ones are excellent and gooseberrry pies and puddings are delicious, there is nothing to beat the old-fashion-ed gooseberry fool for a summer sweet. Equal quantities of the sieved and .sweetened cooked fruit and thick, rich cream blended together form the ideal mixture, but very good ones can be obtained with smaller quantities of cream or with custard in place of the cream. For green gooseberry jam allow half a pint of water and 12 ounces of sugar to every pound of fruit; make a syrup from the sugar and water, add the gooseberries, and cook slowly till the mixture will set. And for green gooseberry jelly simmer six pounds of fruit in four and a half pints of water till soft and broken, and after straining add a pound of sugar to every pint of juice, boiling the juice first for a quarter of an hour.