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Let us not forget the utterly tasteless"Cambridge" varieties some of which could be bought as "Royal Sovereigns"! Many modern varieties are much better.

Cambridge Favourite tasteless? I grow seven or eight varieties of strawberries outside and I wouldn鈥檛 say any of them are tasteless. Cambridge may be the least interesting but they are reliable and 10 times better than those of the same name that are grown for the market, or indeed any I have tasted from the supermarket. Its not just the variety you grow - how its grown has a huge effect on the resulting flavour too. Lots of water and fertiliser make for a larger crop but dilutes the flavour.

Education in Chemistry discusses the science behind the flavour and smell of strawberries in our May issue, particularly the differences between wild and cultivated strawberries.
Find out why there's a difference here:

UK grown strawberries taste far better than they used to, it is all a rosy dream harping back to our perception of years ago. Grow a few of the old varieties to see what I mean!

Hello, EiC: That's a fascinating article. I wanted to use some of the science of flavour in this piece, but it was already getting quite geeky (hopefully in a good way). Thanks for the link!

There seems to be a bit of an old/new split forming. Anyone else have a view?

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Cambrige Favourites; tasteless? There must be something wrong with your strawberry plants. I have been growing CB's in large pots for over 10 years, together with a Spanish variety. Each year I get a bumper crop of fruit of circa' 200 strawberries. I rotate the plants every 2-3 years and always bring-on the runners from the older plants to replenish plant stock. Give the plants plenty of organic feed and now have some delicious anglo-spanish homemade hybrids. The trick with strawberries is to look after them, don't over water but do keep lightly moist, feed well and it's guaranteed you'll have the tastiest homegrowns. Plus, I like to give strawberry plants as presents. Family and friends love to receive these a far more interesting than a DVD; roll-on the Summer!!

Same as tomatoes.When I was a kid,and I m only 50 now,you could bite into one and suck the inside out,loved doing that.Now,you cant even bite into supermarket tomatoes!

Mara des bois has been my favourite since a meal at the River Cafe. I bought the plants in fFrance originally and have grown them for several years in my Chiswick garden. I also have the tiny wild stawberries in my garden but they are just to pick and eat as I wander round first thing in the morning.

I don't think much of the strawberries available - those flown in from ar flung places are barely ripe and thos from the UK in season tend to be more water than sweet flavoured flesh.

Wild strawberries grow like weeds in my garden - fiddly little things.

Strawberries have never been that great. In fact, I'd say, they're the most overrated food of all time. They've always been a bit incipid and lacked flavour. Even the old varieties that used to grow in my garden 25 years ago.

Raspberries and boysenberries all the way!!!

Here Here Mr B Buds - loganberries too eh - all these ar much better suited to the British climate and don't get devastated by slugs

Strawberries need a period of cold in the year to develop flavour and some sun and wamrth to ripen. So, in my opinion, Scottish strawberries are the best for flavour although sometimes the crop in our rather northerly garden is quite small unless covered in the spring. Wild strawberries grow well around here if you know where to look and supplement the domestic varieties a little. Strawberries from hot countries like southern europe always seem to be a dissappointment, better to go without.

I have just returned from Spain where I bought 1kg of local strawberries (grown in Murcia) for 鈧�1 (about 80p). The cost of the equivalent in the UK at the moment must be (I actually dread to think - perhaps 拢6-8!).

Suprisingly, most of the fruit and veg that ends up in our supermarkets comes from the Murcia region, yet these strawberries were absolutely delicious.

I find they go soft and mouldy very quickly in the UK these days - well within a day or two at the most. In the deliciously hot sunshine of a open-air Spainish market, they were as hardy to the touch as any heavily refrigerated huge, bland tasteless strawberries we alas seem to end up with in England.

My top tip is that the smallest strawberries are always the tastiest, so avoid the large ones like the plague! The bigger the more watery which dilutes the sweetness and the taste.

And of course, it has to be said:- the best strawberries are grown in manure!