Wimbledon

It’s that time of year again when all the Lanson’s champagne bottles are suited up in cute little wine cooler jackets disguised as tennis outfits.  Pimms adorns the supermarket shelves, and punnets of strawberries swamp the fruit isles, yes it’s time for the Wimbledon tennis tournament.

My family being avid sport spectators love Wimbledon, my Mum in particular. We have been fortunate to get tickets to Wimbledon on a number of occasions. The first time my Mum and I went on a mother daughter weekend to watch the tennis I wasn’t expecting much, I was more looking forward to where we go for dinner whilst down in London. As for the tennis, I thought it was going to be a long and possibly boring day, the umpires are always so strict – no talking or moving whilst in play, I really wan’t expecting much fun… Oh how wrong I was…

Stepping off the coach I was amazed at the queues of giddy people with their faces patriotically painted and once inside the grounds I was amazed. In my naivety I thought that there were literally just tennis courts and maybe the odd burger stand and VIP lounge for the rich and famous.

Nope.

It was like a mini festival all around the courts. Little stalls selling strawberries with Cornish clotted cream, hot buttery scones and boutique champagne stands complete with hot food carts wafting tantalising aromas of foods from all over the globe. Furthermore there were entertainers, singers and memorabilia stores galore. I knew I was going to love this.

We decided to settle down on the bustling Henman’s hill/Murray’s mound (depending on what you want to call it) in the only space we could find to watch the men’s final. All around us there were people popping Champagne corks and opening picnic baskets full of food on little gingham blankets and tartan fleeces.

Everywhere I looked there were people tucking into ripe red juicy sweet strawberries, and washing them down with cold fizzy golden bubbles. Others were glugging from glasses filled with clinking ice chunks crackling in fruit laden Pimms. As stereotypical as it all was I was taken aback by how fun it was and the atmosphere, for want of a better word, really was electric.

All this got me thinking about what a fantastic British tradition we hold both in terms of the food and the tournament, I was inspired by the combination of strawberries, cream and champagne to make a dish to celebrate this.

So with an idea in my head and an abundance of summer fruit I decided to make the a chocoberry tart, you can find the recipe here.

Here’s to another great Wimbledon tournament.