Most people think of strawberries as something to eat as they are or with a little sugar and cream, but last night we ate a dessert with strawberries and rhubarb cooked together – if you haven’t tried this combination do so.
The small fruit that we know call wild strawberries were grown in ancient Rome and in English and French gardens in later years. Meanwhile in North America they had Fragaria virginiana and then there appeared  Fragaria chilonsisin in the early 18th century. When these two species hybridized they produced the ancestors of the cultivated larger berries that we enjoy today.
The problem that I have with strawberries is that they can look good even when they don’t taste so good. A friend of mine once carried a trayful back all the way from the Canaries to give me a treat one damp February. They looked delicious but tasted of nothing, nothing but a sort of watery mush. Strawberries simply don’t taste as good out of season, however red and juicy they seem. You can freeze them however. They won’t be the same, but they will have all that flavour. I freeze them in boxes in layers of sugar. They are fine as cake fillers or in puddings, even if they do loose their texture.

Rhubarb and Strawberry Brown Betty
4 oz or 100 grams of chopped rhubarb
4 oz or 100 grams of strawberries
3 large spoonfuls of granulated sugar
2 slices of bread
A dessert spoonful of butter or low fat spread

Turn oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4
Place fruit in pudding basin and sprinkle over 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Place rest of sugar together with the butter and torn up bread in food processor and whiz until it forms light crumbs. You can do it without. Just crumble the bread and mix with the sugar and butter using fingers as if making pastry. Sprinkle these over fruit mixture. Place in centre of oven for about 20 minutes. Serve with custard or light cream while warm.