MARINATED STRAWBERRIES  WITH JASMINE
One of my first (and favourite) clients as a private chef was a perfume manufacturer based in Geneva. Naturally, I wanted to create something truly special for a family so closely connected to the world of fragrance. I paired strawberries with jasmine essence, which suddenly made the berries taste like the far more aromatic wild strawberries. I was secretly delighted to have surprised even these fragrance experts. Strawberries taste best when they have never been refrigerated – and best of all when they are still warm from the sun.

INGREDIENTS

• 300gr sun-ripened strawberries

• 2 handfuls of raspberries

• 1 tsp fruit sugar or icing sugar, to taste

• 1 drop jasmine essence

METHOD

1. Hull the strawberries.

2. Purée the raspberries and pass them through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Sweeten the raspberry purée to taste and flavour it with the jasmine essence. Gently fold the strawberries into the purée and serve.

This pairs beautifully with Tofu Espuma (see page 154) and Chocolate Crumble with Fleur de Sel (see page 155); the recipes are from Ralph’s book “Simple is Best”.

RALPH’S TIPS

Natural jasmine essence is 123 highly concentrated and very expensive. As an alternative, you can use orange blossom water, although the fragrance will not evoke wild strawberries quite as strongly.

If the strawberries are truly sun-ripened, you can omit the sugar from the recipe – it merely enhances the flavour, and perfectly ripe berries already have plenty of sweetness.

Freshly ground black pepper, balsamic vinegar, or even ordinary vinegar pairs wonderfully with strawberries. Give it a try!

Images from the book Simple is Best by Ralph Schelling
Instagram: ralph.schelling