A cook’s year GOOSEBERRIES
Gill Meller makes a visit to his gooseberry patch, picks the first early berries, then heads straight to the kitchen, emerging with a cake that doubles as a pudding, heralding soft summer days
RECIPE, FOOD STYLING AND STYLING GILL MELLER
what’s good now.
I have vivid childhood memories of gooseberries.
In early summer the fruit, firm like marbles, striped and burred, appeared translucent enough to make you think you could see the seeds inside. Their sharp flavour left its mark on me. These tart, fleshy, juicy bombs of green and red, a precursor to warm summer months, are one of the few soft fruits I grow at home.
They grow quickly with a little rain and warm sun, and soon cluster on low-slung bushes. They make for an interesting harvest, protected as they are by a thorny armour. I like them when they’re young, firm and acidic (as I remember them), but they’re equally delicious when full, plump, ripe and round, when they burst between your fingers as they’re plucked from their stalks.