When I was a kid my ma used to buy big fat juicy gooseberries from the greengrocer's. You'd bite the end off and suck out the sweet insides. Yummy! I don't see them any more. Does anyone know where I can get any?
Wow, this has generate 4 pages of discussions.... All over a gooseberry. I saw Hugh's post of PYOs and his comment about them all being out of London (sadly farms are usually located outside dense urban areas :-) ).
I went to this one today-http://www.parksidefarmpyo.co.uk/. Up Enfield way. I had a great time with my little girl picking all sorts, ready for a jam fest tomorrow. I believe they has gooseberries on offer too. (I got courgettes, spinach, blackcurrants, raspberries and strawberries). It is only 30 mins ride away and near Trent Park & Fortie Hall for those of you who might want to make a day of it.
And Sainsbury's has them today as well - £3 for two punnets or large green ones. Hurry as they don't have many! (Especially since I bought two and the lady at the checkout said "Ooh gooseberries, I must buy some!"
On holiday in Dorset and had homemade gooseberry pie with ice cream at The Lobster Pot cafe at Portland Bill overlooking sea. Wonderful - i thought of harringayonline whilst tucking in! They were the small cooking variety - sweetish.
The Food Programme on Radio 4 today bemoaned the disappearance of traditional British berries (gooseberry, blackcurrant etc.) in favour of the - to me rather bland - blueberry which has been heavily marketed as a so called "superfood", which is true of all these fruits.
Blueberries are much harder to grow here and have to be imported, so their carbon footprint is high. We still grow a lot of blackcurrants in this country but nearly all of them are made into Ribeana (yuk!)
Parkside Pick-Your-Own has blackcurrants on offer. I went last week for raspberries and strawberries but they also had blackcurrent bushes for picking. It was recommended by another HoL'er and is a fantastic place. Tons (well, perhaps not quite so many), but acres given over to soft fruit and veg.