Unique, sweet, petite, and a little bit tarty. No, we're not talking about some people's idea of the perfect woman, we're talking raspberries.
If the strawberry is the king of summer fruits, then the raspberry is surely the queen.
A bit about raspberries
British raspberries have two short seasons: the first fruits arrive in early June and are available throughout July. Then, just when you think it's all over, a second crop appears in September until early autumn when the first frosts appear.
They're grown around the world but have always been a quintessentially British fruit. This is largely due to the UK's temperate climate, which raspberries thrive in. Scotland supplies over 50% of raspberries eaten in Britain.
Although widely regarded as a tangy-bordering-on-eye-wateringly-tart fruit, raspberries become sweeter as they mature.
You can find raspberries in supermarkets, grocers and farmers' markets, but they can be expensive. It's better to grow your own, if you can, or pick them yourself – wild raspberries are noted for their exquisite flavour; you can find them in woods and on heaths.
Nutritional content and health benefits
Raspberries rank highly in antioxidant strength compared to other fruits. They're full of fibre, a great source of vitamins B and C, copper, folic acid, iron, manganese and magnesium. Medical research and traditional remedies both champion their copious health benefits; the properties in this dainty red fruit can benefit people with age-related sight loss, allergies, diabetes, diabetes and inflammation, amongst others.
Raspberry vinegar, currently a fashionable cooking and serving ingredient, is an age-old cure for sore throats. To make raspberry vinegar, steep some of the fruit in white vinegar for a few days. The leaves of the plant can also be used to make a tea for heavily pregnant women to ease muscle contractions in labour.
Cooking
Raspberries are a core ingredient in summer pudding, make a delicate, hugely popular jam and are an excellent fruit to use when making ice cream (Raspberry Ripple, anyone?) They also freeze well if they're separated and laid flat; otherwise their fragile structure turns to mush.