We don't hear much about gooseberries these days. My gran had a whole ‘hedge' of gooseberry bushes in her garden when I was a child. If they were raspberries bushes, I'm sure my cousins and I wouldn't have been able to resist stuffing raspberries in our cheeks during hide-and-seek, but gooseberries didn't really tempt us so we left them well alone. (We didn't reject her lovely gooseberry crumbles though, drizzled with golden syrup in a lake of custard and cream!)
Gooseberries weren't always so undervalued. In the nineteenth century there were over 170 amateur gooseberry clubs in Britain which competed to grow the largest, heaviest gooseberry – some of which were the size of plums.
If you don't grow your own gooseberries, why not head down to your local farm shop or find a pick-your-own farm and treat yourself? In an age where varieties of fruit and veg seems to be available all year round, it's lovely to be able to look forward to the season of these forgotten little green juicy treasures!
Or, if you are a craft beer lover who is fond of gooseberries and you are over 18, you might like to try Wild Beer's innovativeWild Goose Chase beer made with gooseberries! To contribute to our gooseberry revival, please share your gooseberry memories and recipes with us on Facebook orTwitter.
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