The words from this popular song have been milling around in my head. Not without reason, we have been fortunate to have very spring-like weather during February, and the markets are flooded with red, juicy strawberries.
 
As children, we read about strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in the Enid Blyton books we were addicted to. In reality, they were not available in Kolkata markets till the mid-1990s. While having strawberry ice cream or cake, which owed its flavour to artificial food colour and essence, we didn’t even realise that what we were tasting was nothing like the real stuff.

I remember tasting fresh strawberries for the first time. A box of strawberries in those days cost anything between 350-400 rupees. Very expensive indeed! The really good strawberries arrived with guests visiting from Mumbai. 

Once I had tasted fresh strawberries, I fell in love with the taste and smell. I had to have some strawberries every winter. You can imagine my delight now that excellent quality strawberries are available easily in Kolkata from December to March.

 A few words of caution – never buy strawberries after dark. The deep red colour makes it difficult to see if the fruit is bruised. Don’t be tempted to buy the smaller variety which is often quite cheap. Do buy the bigger red ones. The flavour and taste will make it worth your while.

Strawberries are fantastic just washed, hulled and popped into the mouth. But with a few simple steps, you could absolutely take your strawberry eating experience to another level.

The simplest way would be to wash the strawberries well, hull them, and cut them into thick slices. Sprinkle sugar generously over the strawberry slices, and set the bowl aside for an hour. When you return to it after an hour, you’ll see a gorgeous strawberry syrup with softened strawberry slices in it. This is stunning when served with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. It’s visually appealing too. So, in case you’re having friends over, impress them by serving this no-cook strawberry syrup with either ice cream or whipped cream in pretty glass bowls.

Strawberries and chocolate is a match made in heaven. Another simple but exquisite way of having strawberries is to wash and carefully dry whole strawberries. Ensure that the strawberries are completely dry, otherwise the chocolate may seize. Melt a bar of dark/milk chocolate and dip strawberries until they are 3/4th covered with chocolate from the tip. Place them on a try covered with baking paper, and let the chocolate set. Keep in the fridge until ready to eat.
I can’t resist sharing just one more strawberry recipe with you.

Crush the biscuits finely. Melt butter and chocolate till well blended. Mix the butter mixture with the biscuit crumbs, and press tightly into the bottom and sides of a loose-bottomed tart tin. Put in the fridge to set. 

For the filling, beat cream cheese with icing sugar till light and fluffy. Add the whipped cream to it and mix well. Chop strawberries and cook with sugar till it forms a thick sauce. Cool. Once cool, mix ¾ of the sauce with the cream cheese mixture. Pour into the tart shell. Decorate with the remaining sauce. Unmold, slice and serve. 

Chocolate and Strawberry Cheesecake
2 cups of plain sweet biscuit crumbs (Marie or Digestive biscuit)
100 grams of dark chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup of whipped cream
1 cup of cream cheese
½ cup icing sugar
1 box of strawberries
1 cup regular sugar

Happy strawberry feasting!