Strawberries are beautiful and delicious. The color and shape mean that they often show up as afterthought garnishes on dessert and brunch plates, or split and placed on the edge of a cocktail glass. I’ve always thought these types of garnishes are such a waste when there are so many options for creating a delicious and festive dish.
Why for mom? Because strawberries are easy to transform into a dish that’s like a gift. Yes, you can bake them into a cobbler, or tuck them into shortcakes, or use them in a pavlova, or even dip them in chocolate. But this year, I want to recommend making something a little simpler with a gift that keeps on giving.
A simple bowl of perfect berries is enticing, but as they say, to kick it up a notch, try marinating them with a drizzle of flavorful balsamic vinegar. It’s so easy to make, yet feels special. There is something about the combination of tart, barely sweet fruity vinegar on the ripe strawberries that really sings. You can eat the marinated berries as is with a couple of shortbread cookies. Or do what I love to and spoon some of the marinated berries over a bowl of vanilla or strawberry ice cream or sorbet. To complement the great berries you’re going to buy, you need to look for something beyond that cheap bottle of balsamic at your favorite small grocery chain. I like Seka Hills Elderberry Balsamic Vinegar still and Global Gardens Berry Cranberry Dark Balsamic Vinegar. For something more traditional yet still affordable, look for Giuseppe Giusti Balsamic 3 Medals Vinegar. It’s a lovely combination of sweetness and tang. And give the bottle to mom.
Get the best, ripest berries you can find at the farmers market. Wash and trim them just before serving. Shake dry in a dish towel. Cut up as you like, in halves or quarters, or even chopped if you’re going the ice cream route. Place the berries in a bowl and drizzle with one of the vinegars mentioned above with a light additional sprinkle of sugar, if you like. Stir, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use. Even after the strawberries are eaten, mom still has that bottle of vinegar to use.
I also reached out to food scientist Dr. Arielle Johnson, who is a flavor pairing genius, to ask how she would eat a bowl of berries. She replied, “Sprinkle with a little orange zest and unrefined (or brown) sugar, then eat with some incarnation of cream. Add a *little* tarragon or cracked cardamom. I keep Okinawan black sugar around, that would be my first choice. But palm sugar or panela or jaggery or brown sugar would all be tasty.”