Wild Strawberries - In Season

Georgina Campbell

Wild strawberries, Fragaria Vssca, the woodland strawberry or fraises des boi,s grow abundantly all over the northern hemisphere and their small, but sweet and intensely aromatically flavoured, fruits are produced generously over a long season - it will surprise many who think of strawberries as a fruit of high summer, that they continue to fruit well into autumn (in season from June to late September).

They may well pop up in your garden, where they will settle and reproduce in the same way as cultivated strawberries, by runners thrown out in late season, which root where they land on soil.

‘Wild’, or Alpine, strawberries are also bred for cultivation, and will have slightly larger fruits and similar although less intense flavour, but they have less staying power than their wild cousins and sometimes die off and need to be replaced.

RECIPE: Wild Strawberry, Bilberry, Blackberry And Rose Water Jelly

From “Wild Food, Nature’s Harvest: How to Gather, Cook & Preserve” by Biddy White Lennon & Evan Doyle (O’Brien Press €16.99)

What Goes In

1 handful wild strawberries
2 handfuls wild bilberries
2 handfuls wild blackberries
750ml water
400g organic sugar
½ vanilla pod
5 leaves of gelatine
4–5 drops of rose water
250ml organic sparkling white wine

How It Goes

Place the water and sugar into a saucepan with the half vanilla pod, split. Bring slowly to boil to dissolve the sugar. Soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold of water. Add gelatine into hot liquid and stir until you are sure gelatine is fully dissolved through the liquid. Whisk rose water drops into the liquid and add the white wine.

Use a large mould, just as your grandmother did, for placing in the centre of the table. Or, use individual dariole moulds or coffee cups or whatever shape you like.

Place a layer of the wild strawberries in the bottom of mould and just cover with the jelly liquid. Allow this layer to set in fridge.

Keep the remainder of the liquid jelly warm. When set, add another layer of berries. This time using all three types of berries (wild strawberries, wild bilberries and wild blackberries).

Repeat layering process until mould is full.

How To Finish

Allow to set in fridge. To turn out, dip jelly mould into hot water for a few seconds and turn out onto serving dish.

What You Get

Is an adult jelly of summer fruits that will transport you back! This jelly pays homage to the illusive and hard to harvest wild strawberry. That’s why it has pride of place for the first spoon at the top of the mould when it is inverted. We feel that the rose water adds to the deep perfume taste of this fabulous wild fruit.