IT was one of the great rituals of summer. Somewhere around Midsummer's Day, my grandmother would take us down the garden, past the early potatoes, lettuces and radish, to the strawberry patch.

My cousins and I would hunt carefully through the leaves until we had enough small, sweet strawberries to fill the battered old metal colander Gran had brought out. Our reward was to eat some of the strawberries there and then in the garden. They were warm from the sun, sweet and delicious. Somewhere, there is a photo of my Singapore-born niece as a two-year-old tasting her first Welsh strawberry, her eyes popping with delight.

The start of Wimbledon on Monday is inextricably tied up with strawberries. But I doubt if any of them will arouse eye-popping delight in those paying a small fortune for them.

The strawberry season was once short and sweet - a bit like the strawberries themselves. But now the British strawberry season stretches from April through to November. That's thanks to new varieties and to the fact that 80 per cent of British fruit is now grown in polytunnels, often to the displeasure of the people who live near them.

The result is a long season for British strawberries, with steady supplies of good looking, unblemished fruit.

But the taste? Ah.

Most of the strawberries grown in Britain - and in many other countries - are Elsanta. These are nice, reliable strawberries, which look good and taste fine.

But strawberries should taste more than fine. Strawberries should taste so special that they don't need cream or sugar. In fact, cream and sugar actually detract from the flavour of a perfect strawberry. And if you've never tasted a strawberry like that, well, I'm afraid you have missed out on one of life's great treats.. The nearest you can get to Gran's strawberry patch now is to grow your own, or pick your own. PYO strawberry fields are not as popular as they were a few years ago. The novelty's worn off and we've got too lazy. But there is still nothing like a strawberry freshly picked on a summer's day.

How can you possibly compare that to one that's been picked half a world away and stuck in cold storage until it lands on the supermarket shelf?

A strawberry should taste of sunshine, not the chiller, so at least buy local. In preparation for Wimbledon - in between practising our backhand - we've been sampling some of the strawberries on offer.

MOST EXPENSIVE

ELSANTA, MARKS & SPENCER

Nice to know they were grown by Mark Thorpe in Norfolk, but they cost £1.99 for 225 g (11 strawberries) and tasted no better than SAFEWAY'S Elsanta at £2.49 for 454g. Later in the week, we found Elsanta strawberries in Marks & Spencer at £1.99 for 400g. These were grown by Peter Stirling in Scotland and had a slightly better flavour, as well as being about half the price.

TESCO's strawberries came from Hereford. They didn't tell us what variety but we would guess Elsanta again. £1.69 for 454g.

SAINSBURY'S had two versions of Elsanta - Scottish at £1.79 for 454g, which were OK but a bit watery, and organic Elsanta from Herefordshire, at £2.98 for 300g, which had a better flavour.

On the markets and at small greengrocers, we found that many of the Elsanta were grown in Belgium. They generally cost around £1.50 for 450g, but perhaps because they were in open punnets, tended to be more bruised. On the other hand, they hadn't been quite so chilled for quite so long and had had time to develop a better flavour.

USA Driscoll strawberries, £2.49 for 400g in MARKS & SPENCER, looked very good - very large and dark red - but they were a bit woody and without very much flavour.

Spanish Camarosa strawberries at £1.19 for 400g from the CO-OP were cheap enough but again, not very special.

Most disappointing were the organic Camarosa strawberries from Spain, £1.78 for 227g in ASDA. There might have been a nice flavour lurking in there, but they were tough and woody.

OUR FAVOURITES

The organic Elsanta from Sainsbury's, the Belgian Elsanta from the market and the Peter Stirling Elsanta from Marks & Spencer all tasted quite good.

BUT none of them was really amazing. Or as good as Gran's. So we shall be out on the local fruit farms in the next few weeks, still searching for that elusive flavour.

STRAWBERRY SNIPPETS

l Every year, about 27,000 kilos of strawberries are eaten at Wimbledon.

* Strawberries are very high in vitamin C and are recommended in the Atkins diet.

* Marks & Spencer planted and tested 13,000 varieties before deciding on their Jubilee variety.

* Strawberries aren't actually berries.

* Strawberries are native to Britain but the Romans were the first to cultivate them.

* Strawberries were traditionally served on cabbage leaves to enhance the flavour. You still get cabbage leaf-style plates.

* In heraldry, eight strawberry leaves on a coronet denotes a duke.

* Instead of sugar or cream, some people recommend a sprinkling of black pepper on strawberries.

* Strawberries are best stored with their hulls intact.

* Try not to wash them but, if necessary, just give them a quick rinse immediately before serving.

* Strawberries are best eaten on the day they're picked. If you have to store them, try to keep them somewhere cool, but not in the fridge. Bring them out an hour before serving.

* Follow your nose. The best tasting strawberries are also the best smelling - so have a good sniff before you buy.

* Champagne goes particularly well with strawberries. Now there's a nice thought for summer.

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