The Seductive Power of Strawberries

D'Urberville began gathering specimens of the fruit for her, handing them back to her as he stooped; and, presently, selecting a specially fine product of the 'British Queen' variety, he stood up and held it by the stem to her mouth.
'No - no!' she said quickly, putting her fingers between his hand and her lips.  'I would rather take it in my own hand.'
'Nonsense!' he insisted; and in a slight distress she parted her lips and took it in.  

  (Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles)

In my last post I wrote about literary links between food and seduction, ending with Alec d'Urberville's seduction of Tess through strawberries.  Whilst strawberries on their own - provided they have been grown naturally in plenty of sunshine - can be beautifully sweet and delicious, needing no other accompaniment, I wanted to find a recipe that would present them in their full glory and have a meaningful relationship with Hardy's novel.

Food and Seduction

Food and sex have always been linked: from romantic meals to the alleged aphrodisiac qualities of certain foods - according to an article in The Independent these include asparagus, celery and pomegranate: see here  

Food and Country Life

There was a great stir in the milk-house just after breakfast.  The churn revolved as usual, but the butter would not come.  Whenever this happened the dairy was paralyzed.   Squish, squash, echoed the milk in the great cylinder, but never arose the sound they waited for.

(Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles)