The strawberries and cream of Wimbledon is arguably the most iconic concession associated with any of the Grand Slam tournaments. Noshing on that dish is the perfect way to get into the tennis spirit as the fortnight gets underway tomorrow morning.
Despite the claims of many recipes on the internet, at Wimbledon fresh strawberries are simply served with unsweetened (and not whipped) cream. It couldn’t be easier to prepare. Literally all you have to do is hull some strawberries and pour heavy cream over them.
Strawberries and cream as standard tennis fare was well established long before the first ever Wimbledon tournament was conducted in 1877. The tradition is believed to have originated in 1514 by Thomas Wolsey who was a close associate of the King Henry VIII. The staff at Wolsey’s palace served strawberries and cream to spectators of the tennis matches that were held on the grounds.
In 2014, Wimbledon’s strawberry lovers downed an estimated 1.1 million strawberries, or nearly 62,000 pounds, over the course of the 13-day tournament. It takes 1,800 gallons of cream to round out the dish. The standard serving at Wimbledon bowl contains 10 berries.
To get in the spirit of Wimbledon, everybody should head on out to the grocery store to make sure you have fresh strawberries and cream on hand tomorrow morning. It is the perfect breakfast to kick off the fortnight.
- Why are strawberries and cream a Wimbledon tradition?, Nisha Mal, Wales Online, 27 June 2017.
- Bumper Crop of Strawberries Hits Wimbledon, Tom Perrotta, The Wall Street Journal, 27 June 2014.
A good way to ‘hull’ a strawberry, especially for adding to a glass of champagne, is to push a straw all of the way through the strawberry from the pointy end of the fruit. Takes out the ‘hull’ and the leaves in one!
In the third paragraph, first sentence, I think the word “ong” should be “long”. Unless ong is some British word I’m not familiar with.