Wimbledon starts today. I confess, I’ve never been a huge tennis fan. I wanted to be. My best friend was a fabulous tennis player growing up and I always thought it would be fun to play together. But as an admittedly timid kid, the whole idea of a hard yellow object flying straight at me at ridiculous speeds somehow turned me off. Or perhaps it was the fact that my tennis pro mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like “maybe she should try art or piano.” Either way, my love affair with tennis was exceptionally short lived.
That being said, any excuse to sample a culinary ritual connected with a sport — even if it is tennis — is always welcome in my book. And so the tradition of eating strawberries and cream while watching Wimbledon is one I am currently embracing.
Strawberries and tennis both mark the arrival of summer and it was the seasonality of the luscious red fruit that first connected it to Wimbledon. As Audrey Snell, a librarian at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum, describes, “Strawberries were normally available only at that time of year,” said Ms. Snell. “When the championships started in the late 1800′s, it was a fashionable thing to eat. The appearance of strawberries just happened to coincide with the event.”
Still as fashionable today, strawberries with Double Cream remains the traditional treat served at Wimbledon.
Strawberries and Cream at Wimbledon
I think an interesting alternative accompaniment for strawberries is sour cream and brown sugar. Roll a fresh whole strawberry in sour cream and then dip it in brown sugar. It may sound horrid, but I promise it is divine.
And don’t forget the old standby, chocolate covered strawberries (a weakness of mine). We made these for a recent party at our house.
milk-chocolate covered strawberries with white chocolate drizzle
As summer rolls on, I am certain I’ll follow this with additional posts about strawberries. Until then, for other Summer Berry recipes, check out this recent Times Online article. (I’m intrigued by the Summer Strawberry Salad with Champagne Granita).
