© Ludovic le Guyader / Aprifel

Over 600 varieties of strawberry exist in different sizes, colours, textures and flavours.
 
The British strawberry season now runs from mid-April to mid-December thanks to the development of plastic polytunnels, but the six-week strawberry season used to coincide with summer (early June to mid-August).

80% of strawberries sold in the UK are round Elsanta strawberries, but Florence, Alice, Rosie, Cambridge Late Pine and Rhapsody can also be found. If you go to your local fruit farm you're more likely to find different varieties than the Elsanta (and you'd be doing your bit for biodiversity too: environmentalists say a 'monoculture' of the same type of fruit is bad for biodiversity).

If you pick your own, go for unmarked strawberries with bright green hulls. Serve them at room temperature to bring out their full flavour.