The origins of Strawberry Fair (Roud Folksong Index 173), are obscure, typically of English folksongs. “The song was collected by H. Fleetwood Sheppard in Broadstone, Devon, in 1891. The text may have been re-written by Sabine Baring Gould and Fleetwood Sheppard.” (“Strawberry Fair (song)”, Wikipedia)
As I was going to Strawberry Fair,
Singing, singing, Butter-cups and Daisies
I met a maiden taking her ware,
Fol-de-dee!
Her eyes were blue and golden her hair,
As she went on to Strawberry Fair,
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-li-do,
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-dee.
“Kind Sir, pray pick of my basket!” she said,
Singing, singing, Butter-cups and Daisies
“My cherries ripe, or my roses red,
Fol-de-dee!
My strawberries sweet, I can of them spare,
As I go on to Strawberry Fair.”
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-li-do…
Strawberries are an old, old favourite. Strawberry sellers hawking their wares were a seasonal sight on the streets of London for several hundred years. Collections of illustrations of such street criers were popular in 18th- and early 19th-century Britain. The picture below shows a woman selling strawberries, with a background of Covent Garden market. She holds her basket on her head:
The accompanying text, with its intriguing description of very early recycling, reads:
“STRAWBERRIES. Brought fresh gathered to the markets in the height of their season, both morning and afternoon, are sold in pottles, containing something less than a quart each. The crier adds one penny to the price of the Strawberries for the pottle, which, if returned by her customer, she abates, or will take it again at the same price on another occasion. Great numbers of both men and women are employed in crying Strawberries during their season, which is June, through the streets in suburbs of London. Their profit is from threepence to fourpence in the shilling. Strawberries are frequently to be bought in London at sixpence per pottle.” (Sir Richard Phillips (1767-1840). Modern London. London, for R. Phillips, 1804)
The street cry in the picture’s caption is merely “Strawberries.” In 1885 Andrew White Tuer reported that other old cries he’d collected from original sources were: “Strabery rype, and cherryes in the ryse”, “I ha rype straberies!” (dating from Charles II), and “Ripe Strawberryes!”, “Strawberrys, scarlet strawberrys!” In his times strawberries were still being sold on the streets, and Tuer wrote:
“Many of the old cries, dying out elsewhere, may still be familiar, however, in the back streets of second and third rate neighbourhoods. ... ‘fine ripe strawberries,’... and many others, are still shouted in due season by leathern-lunged itinerant traders.” (Andrew White Tuer (1838-1900). Old London Street Cries; and, The Cries of To-day: with Heaps of Quaint Cuts Including Hand-coloured Frontispiece. 1885. (The History Collection (University of Wisconsin))
Here’s the recipe that the 19th-century street-sellers’ strawberries were destined for:
Strawberries And Cream.
Ingredients.—To every pint of picked strawberries allow 1/3 pint of cream, 2 oz. of finely-pounded sugar.
Mode.—Pick the stalks from the fruit, place it on a glass dish, sprinkle over it pounded sugar, and slightly stir the strawberries, that they may all be equally sweetened; pour the cream over the top, and serve. Devonshire cream, when it can be obtained, is exceedingly delicious for this dish; and, if very thick indeed, may be diluted with a little thin cream or milk.
Average cost for this quantity, with cream at 1s. per pint, 1s. Sufficient for 2 persons. Seasonable in June and July.
Source: Isabella Beeton. The Book of Household Management. [London], S.O. Beeton, 1861
Strawberries of the Overflow
Before we return to the folksong, let’s have some more recipes. I’ve tried to sort out some that are tasty enough to compensate for the rather bland modern strawberries—maybe they pick them too soon, maybe it's the varieties, chosen for show rather than flavour. I love this painting (above) by a self-taught modern Adelaide artist, but you can see that there’s a considerable amount of white on the berries!
You’ll find that all the recipes are pretty quick and easy.
Strawberry salads?
If you’ve got a superfluity of strawberries—lucky you—you might like to have a go at some of these easy modern French recipes for strawberry salads. I couldn’t honestly figure out whether most of them were meant to be desserts or served as a salad course, and the picture didn’t help: it didn’t illustrate any of them, but was for a strawberry salad with greens. I think most of them could be served as a starter, actually; but they would certainly make unusual salad courses or, indeed, desserts. Here are my translations for you:
Strawberry Salad with Olive Oil
Choose a good virgin olive oil. Make a light sugar syrup, and let it cool. Cut the strawberries in halves or quarters, add several spoonfuls of syrup, a little lemon juice, and olive oil.
(The wording indicated that this one is intended as a dessert).
***
Strawberry and Basil Salad
Add some fresh basil leaves to a salad of chopped strawberries seasoned with a little sugar and lemon juice.
***
Peppery Strawberry Salad
500g strawberries, juice of a lime, several good pinches of pepper (the original recommends Nepalese Timut pepper or Cambodian Kampot pepper; but otherwise use freshly ground black peppercorns). Slice the strawberries and add a little sugar if needed. Mix all ingredients together and chill for an hour before serving.
(This will appeal if you like freshly-ground pepper with fruit, which I do. The combo is surprisingly refreshing.)
***
Strawberry Salad with Balsamic Vinegar
Cut the strawberries in halves or quarters. Put them in a salad bowl, sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and a little sugar. Chill for an hour before serving.
(I won that bet with myself that the fave of the 2010’s would be in this list. But if you like balsamic vinegar and you’ve got a lot of strawberries, why not try it? I’d use pomegranate molasses instead.)
***
Strawberry and Avocado Salad
Purée a ripe avocado with a little sugar and some lime juice (in Brazil this mixture is called doce de abacate) and serve with a strawberry salad.
Source: Fanny Rivron. “5 ingrédients insolites à associer à la fraise pour changer de la chantilly”. 750g: de la vie dans la cuisine!, 28/04/2020
Some rather more traditional desserts
Here’s a version of the classic recipe that those modern French combos were replacing. The Cointreau and rosewater are this author’s own touches, I think; the French versions seem to use vanilla.
Strawberries Chantilly
Wash 1/2 pint strawberries, drain on paper towelling, hull them and cut lengthwise into quarters. Leave two of the nicest berries whole. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of Cointreau, and a little sugar if sour, and chill for 1/2 hour.
Beat half cup cream till stiff, adding 1/4 teaspoon sugar and the tiniest drop of rose water to it halfway through the whipping.
Fold berries into the cream, pile into two individual serving dishes and top each with a whole strawberry.
Chill for 1 hour before serving.
–For two.
Source: James Chatto. The Seducer’s Cookbook. Newton Abbot, David & Charles, [1981]
A similar classic, this time an English dish, is a “fool”. Basically it’s whipped cream with the squashed fruit mixed into it: very easy. Here are 2 versions from Jane Grigson:
Strawberry Fool
I find that people prefer the slightly lumpy effect achieved by mashing the strawberries with sugar, and then folding them into whipped cream. Or into whipped cream, lightened with whisked white of egg.
Or into whipped cream folded into a light fresh cheese, e.g. fromage frais.
Serve with thin shortbread biscuits or sponge finger biscuits.
Source: Jane Grigson. Jane Grigson’s Fruit Book. Harmondsworth, England, Penguin, 1983
**********
Strawberry and Raspberry Fool
Equal weight of strawberries and raspberries, mashed and sugared. Folded into whipped cream.
The quantity of fruit to cream can be equal in volume. Or less cream to fruit, according to your tastes and pocket.
Icing sugar is easiest to flavour these dishes with, as it dissolves so easily. But caster can be used, too.
Source: Jane Grigson. Jane Grigson’s Fruit Book. Harmondsworth, England, Penguin, 1983
The next recipe is an old favourite of mine:
Strawberries Romanoff
* strawberries * sugar * Kirsch * whipped cream
* a little vanilla ice cream
Slice about two thirds of the strawberries in half. Sprinkle with a little sugar and a dash of Kirsch and stir very gently until the sugar is dissolved. This is not a marinade: do not leave it to stand and do not refrigerate it.
Whip the cream but do not sweeten it.
For each person: in a tall parfait glass put about 4 cm. (1-1/2 inches) of plain vanilla ice cream to fill the point of the glass. Mix the sliced strawberries and their juice with the remaining whole strawberries (reserving one for the top of each glass if you like). Put alternate spoonfuls of strawberries and the whipped cream into the glass until it is filled. If the cream engulfs the strawberries it does not matter, but they should not be mixed together. Serve immediately.
The touch of ice cream forms a surprise at the bottom of the glass.
Source: Based on a recipe once served by The Gourmet restaurant in Auckland.
Here’s an easy-peasy dessert sauce of mine for the microwave:
Easy Strawberry Sauce
Per Person:
* 3-4 good-sized strawberries * 1 level tablespoon raw sugar
1. Chop the strawberries into fairly small chunks.
2. Put strawberries and sugar into a deep-sided microwave-safe bowl. There should be a space of at least 4 cm above the strawberries.
3. Microwave on high. Time depends on power of microwave. About 1 minute for 1 serving at a low voltage. Watch the microwaving carefully and do not let the sauce rise above the level of the bowl.
4. Serve warm or cold. If storing in the fridge, cover tightly, as it tends to dry out round the edges.
Nice with pancakes or as a topping for plain yoghurt or ice cream.
Notes: It is easy but it takes a little while to get used to just how your microwave will behave. The strawberries cook very quickly. DON'T be tempted to add water! There will be a disastrous boil-over.
You could use more sugar if you prefer, but the sauce is not intended to be served in large quantities.
If you enjoy baking, I think you’ll like this next strawberry-topped recipe. I’ve got innumerable versions of cheesecakes and slices which incorporate strawberries but this early one is the only one which appeals to me. Many modern packet biscuits tend to impart a horribly artificial flavour to such dishes; Digestives are an excellent choice here.
Strawberry or Raspberry Cheesecake
* 3/4 lb [340 g] fresh strawberries or raspberries
* 8 oz [250 g] Digestive biscuits, crumbled
* 2-3 tablespoon melted butter * 8 oz [250 g] cream cheese
* 1 heaped tablespoon soft brown (or Demerara) sugar
* 1 egg, lightly whisked *1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 2-3 tablespoon castor sugar * juice 1/2 lemon
* redcurrant jelly
Crumble biscuits and mix with brown sugar and melted butter. Put into 8" or 9" [ca. 20cm] shallow flan tin. Pat down firmly and smoothly with metal spoon. Put in oven at Gas 5 (375°F, 190°C) for 5 mins.
In a bowl mix cream cheese, egg, vanilla, castor sugar and lemon juice. Beat with wooden spoon or electric whisk. Pour into biscuit crust and put into oven at Gas 5 [190 C] for about 20 mins until it looks firm. Let cool.
For the fruit topping arrange the fruit (halve the strawberries) on top of cheesecake, then melt about 4 tablespoons redcurrant jelly in a saucepan and spoon it all over the fruit. Let cool again.
–Serves 6.
Source: Josceline Dimbleby. A Taste of Dreams. London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1976
Jam yesterday, or jam today?
If you liked the mixture of black pepper and strawbs in “Peppery Strawberry Salad” and you’re a jam-maker, there’s a very interesting recipe on the big Aussie cookery website, Australia’s Best Recipes: Strawberry and Black Pepper Jam, by “abrarose”, one of the best contributors. (If the link above doesn’t work you can find it by searching on the title at https://www.bestrecipes.com.au/)
Strawberry jam is notoriously tricky to set. If you don’t use the special jam sugar mix recommended by abrarose you will need to add pectin.
Not a jam maker? No worries! Try this:
Uncooked Strawberry Jam
The colour and fresh taste of this strawberry jam is superior to the cooked versions. The jam should be stored in a freezer.
600 g prepared strawberries; 900 g castor sugar
half bottle of liquid pectin (115 ml) or equivalent made from pectin powder
Combine the strawberries and sugar in a bowl. Crush with a potato masher. Leave for 1 hour, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the pectin and stir for 3 minutes.
Pour into small, dry jars leaving 1.5 cm headspace. Cover with foil.
Leave in the kitchen for 8 hours and then put into the refrigerator until they are jelled. This may take 24 hours.
Store in a freezer until required.
Source: Mary Browne, Helen Leach & Nancy Tichborne. The Cook's Garden: For Cooks Who Garden and Gardeners Who Cook. Wellington, [N.Z.], A.H. & A.W. Reed, 1980
Drink up your strawberries!
Still got a glut of strawberries? Try adding them to a drink. First, here’s the cocktail version:
Mango Strawberry Daiquiri
* 1 punnet fresh strawberries large hulled
* 1 cup mango cubed * 1/2 cup light rum * 2 limes juiced
* 2 tbs sugar * 2 cups crushed ice cubes
STEP 1. In a blender, combine 3 strawberries and remaining ingredients until smooth and frothy.
STEP 2. Pour into chilled glasses and serve with strawberry garnishes.
–Makes 2
Source: st Latina, Australia’s Best Recipes [Listed in email newsletter for Fri, 28 Dec 2018]
And here are a couple of non-alcoholic strawberry drinks. Before the smoothie hit our shores, someone had a go at a strawberry drink: the result is something a bit different! This one would perhaps be served for a party, and unlike modern smoothies would not double as breakfast:
Strawberry Mix
* 4 oz. (125 g) strawberries
* 1-2 tablespoons castor [sic] sugar
* soda water or natural [sparkling] mineral water
Put the strawberries in a bowl [cut up!] and sprinkle with sugar.
Allow to stand for half an hour, then puree in a blender.
Half fill a glass with the puree and top up with the chilled mineral water, which is best, or the soda water.
Source: Jeffrey Thomas. Drinks For a Southern Summer: A New Zealand Recipe Book. Wellington, N.Z., Port Nicholson Press, 1981
Here’s the now well-known type of beverage:
Mixed Berry Smoothie
* 170 g (6 oz) mixed red soft fruit [strawberries, etc]
* 240 ml (8 fl oz) Greek yoghurt * 120 ml (4 fl oz) milk
* 2 ice cubes * 3 tbsp clear honey
Raspberry Coulis (optional):
* 55 g (2 oz) raspberries * 2 tbsp icing sugar
1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. For a thick shake, add ice cubes before blending.
2. Pour into glasses and garnish. Serve as soon as possible.
3. For the raspberry coulis, mix the raspberries with the icing sugar, and press through a sieve. Swirl the coulis on top of each glass just before serving.
–Serves 1-2
Source: Alice Sherwood. Allergy-Friendly Cookbook. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2007
Back to Strawberry Fair
Unfortunately the Victorians’ passion for collecting old traditional songs and rhymes went hand-in-hand with their prudishness: as we saw when we looked at nutmeg (A Little Nutmeg With Your Junket Or Pear?), the rude connotations of Little Miss Muffet have long since been buried. It’s the same, apparently, with Strawberry Fair.
The song starts off, with minor variations on the refrain, as I’ve given it. The sanitised versions we get today end completely innocuously; Wikipedia gives us the standard ending:
… My strawberries sweet, I can of them spare,
As I go on to Strawberry Fair."
Ri-fol …
I want to purchase a generous heart,
Singing, singing, Butter-cups and Daisies
A tongue that neither is nimble or tart.
Tol-de-dee!
An honest mind, but such trifles are rare
I doubt if they're found at Strawberry Fair.
Ri-fol …
The price I offer, my sweet pretty maid
Singing, singing, Butter-cups and Daisies
A ring of gold on your finger displayed,
Tol-de-dee!
So come— make over to me your ware,
In church today at Strawberry Fair.
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-li-do,
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-dee.
Very sweet and proper, isn’t it? But you’ll find a ruder and what seems a much truer version on Youtube at “Strawberry Fair - a song sanitised by the Victorians but now part wild” sung by Alan Rosevear.
The notes there tell us: “When Rev Sabine Baring-Gould collected Strawberry Fair from the singing of John Masters in 1891, he thought the words rather indelicate and so rewrote them in a rather Fol-de-rol Victorian style. However, in his notes, preserved in the Baring Gould collection (now made accessible by Wren Music http://www.wrenmusic.co.uk), John Masters' original words are recorded. This version sung by Alan Rosevear uses Baring Gould's sanitised verses to start and then slips into the wild Devon version”.
There’s more discussion on Mudcat. Masato Sakurai writes on 21 Aug 2001: “I think what is asked for is the one in James Reeves, The Everlasting Circle: English Traditional Verse from the MMS of S. Baring-Gould, H.E.D. Hammond & George B. Gardiner (Heinemann, 1960, p. 249). Here it is:”
As I was agoing to Strawberry Fair,
Ri-tol-ri-tol, riddle-tol-de-lido,
I saw a fair maiden of beauty rare,
Tol-de-dee.
I saw a fair maid go selling her ware
As she went on to Strawberry Fair,
Ri-tol-ri-tol, riddle-tol-de-lido.
O pretty fair maiden, I prithee tell,
My pretty fair maid, what do you sell?
O come tell me truly, my sweet damsel,
As you go on to Strawberry Fair.
O I have a lock that doth lack a key,
O I have a lock, sir, she did say.
If you have a key then come this way
As we go on to Strawberry Fair.
Between us I reckon that when we met
The key to the lock it was well set,
The key to the lock it well did fit
As we went on to Strawberry Fair.
O would that my lock had been a gun,
I’d shoot the blacksmith, for I’m undone,
And wares to carry I now have none
That I should go to Strawberry Fair.
(J. Masters at Bradstone, 1891. Taken down by H. Fleetwood Shepherd)
And Malcolm Douglas notes that the original innocuous sanitised Victorian version “has locksmith rather than blacksmith as given above by Masato”. So yeah, that’s pretty rude. But it is very typical of real folksongs, rather than the Victorian version!
—By the way, if the lock and key image is ringing odd bells, you’re probably recalling the pop song Brand New Key, written and sung by “Melanie” (Melanie Safka) which topped the charts in December 1971 and January 1972: “I've got a brand new pair of roller skates/ You've got a brand-new key”. Fifty years on, in an interview reported in the Nashville Tennessean, July 9, 2021, the interviewer asked the singer-songwriter about the sexual innuendo many listeners found in the words, but she remained vague about it, merely saying that: “I’m gonna say, subconsciously, there could have been some sort of Freudian thing. I was just remembering roller skating and learning the apparatus. It was a thing that went onto your skate to tighten it and I remember going down ‘Suicide Hill’ and breaking my front tooth...” Well, she also tells us how that day she was coming off the tremendous high induced by a starvation diet, in which she started seeing visions, and had just broken down and eaten a burger!
That’s it for strawberries and their famous song. Just one tip for keeping the berries in the fridge: don’t wash them first. Enjoy!
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