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Ahh the good old strawberry, another star of the summer. Served with cream or in tarts, strawberries are everyone's favourite summer fruit. We tend to neglect their savoury potential, though, and strawberries can be just as tasty in savoury recipes! They're also really healthy: they contain the most Vitamin C per calorie than any other fruit, plus a host of antioxidant chemicals that are believed to help protect against heart disease and cancer.
> How to choose strawberries
There are many varieties of strawberries but the best known and most popular is the Elsanta. Elsanta strawberries have fantastic flavour, quality and shelf life, and make up almost 80% of all strawberries in the supermarkets. If you pop along to a pick-your-own farm, you're more likely to come across some less-familiar varieties such as Florence, Alice, Rosie and Rhapsody, all of which have their own flavours and aromas. When choosing, look for unblemished strawberries with bright green hulls.
> Strawberries go well with:
Herbs: basil, mint and tarragon.
Spices: vanilla, ginger, cloves, Melegueta pepper, Espelette pepper, black pepper, allspice and aniseed.
Dairy products: mascarpone, ricotta and goat's cheese.
Savoury: beef carpaccio or tartare, white fish, scallops, spinach salad, roquette and avocado.
> Recipes
Strawberries with goat's cheese
Strawberry and melon gratin
