Green strawberry, fennel and gooseberry salad with tarragon and mint

Spring

Before strawberries are red, they’re green and before they’re green they’re the colour of milk. Generally, we like to eat them in their plumpest state, fit to burst, gorged like a well-fed leech. However, and it may come as a surprise, strawberries are particularly good eaten green or, rather, under-ripe. You’ll be able to find them at your local ‘pick-your-own’ fruit farm, or you could try growing the fruit yourself. Let’s be clear, I love a sugary, red strawberry, but there is a newness to the sourness a strawberry has when it’s green. The fruit actually has a flavour, beyond the sugar; there is a lemony, verdant freshness I find intriguing. I like to tumble green strawberries together with thinly sliced fennel and tart little gooseberries to make an altogether different salad. Tarragon and mint, sweet and cool, tie this crisp, lively trio together, while peppery olive oil loosens the knots, so to speak.

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 firm fennel bulb, trimmed, fronds reserved
200g (7oz) green strawberries, thinly sliced from top to bottom
200g (7oz) gooseberries, halved (or thickly sliced if large)
1 small handful of tarragon, leaves picked and roughly chopped
1 small handful of mint, leaves picked and ribboned
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp unrefined caster sugar
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Split the fennel from top to bottom, remove the core, then slice each half very thinly across the bulb.

Combine the fennel, strawberries and gooseberries in a bowl. Add the herbs, lemon juice, sugar and olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Use your hands to tumble the ingredients together and allow the salad to sit for 5–10 minutes, before tumbling again. Lift the salad out onto a plate and spoon over any juices from the bowl, then trickle over a little more olive oil, tear over the reserved fennel fronds, and bring to the table.

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