SUNDAY SERVINGS:

STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER

What an absolute belter of a summer for British strawberries.

Thanks to one of the most topsy-turvy springs in years, Britain's growers are celebrating one of their sweetest harvests yet, with berries that are bigger, juicier and more flavour-packed than usual. Cooler weather in April and early May gave the fruit longer to develop its natural sugars before the summer sunshine arrived in full force.

The result? Some seriously next-level strawbs.

A NATIONAL OBSESSION

Britain's love affair with strawberries stretches back centuries.

The Tudors gathered tiny wild strawberries from hedgerows before planting them in palace gardens, while the large, juicy strawberries we know today first arrived in Europe during the 18th century after North American and Chilean species were crossed in France.

Safe to say, we've been hooked ever since.

THE GARDEN OF ENGLAND

If Britain has a strawberry capital, it's Kent.

By the Victorian era, trainloads of freshly picked strawberries were rolling into London's markets and grand hotels every summer. From then on, Kent was (and still is) Britain's strawberry heartland.

Harvest time became such a huge event that school attendance famously dipped as children headed into the fields to help pick the crop.

GROWN THE RIGHT WAY

Our strawberries come from Hugh Lowe Farms in Kent, growers with more than 125 years of experience. As if that wasn't enough, they also supply Wimbledon.

Like us, they're just as passionate about nature as they are about fruit. Only a third of their land is given over to berries, while the rest is managed as woodland, meadows and wildlife habitats, helping bees, birds and healthy soils thrive.

FIND OUT MORE

THE SWEETEST FINISH

All of which brings us neatly to our August Special.

An old-school summer custard tart, served with hand-picked Kent strawberries and finished with Willy's aged apple balsamic glaze.

When the strawberries are this good, there's really no need to overcomplicate things.

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Jamie Oliver Catherine St 6 Catherine St London, WC2B 5JY