Strawberries in the Snow

A preview of a recipe from my next book, Much Ado About Cooking

I saw good strawberries in your garden there;
I do beseech you, send for some of them. – Richard III, Act III, Scene iv

The strawberries available in Shakespeare’s lifetime were small and sweet but a far cry from the bulbous, juice red fruits available today. Andrew Boorde claims that the fruit could be positively dangerous when combined with raw cream, particularly for the lower orders of society. To mitigate any hazard strawberries posed he and other physicians recommended they be eaten with plenty of sugar. The snow reference comes from the aromatic Snow Cream, a popular dish in the late sixteenth century.