Winter is the season to sink your teeth into luscious, red strawberries. The strawberry is a hybrid species that is cultivated worldwide for its fruit. This fruit, grown mainly in Mahabaleshwar, has a sweet-sour tang that blends beautifully across all courses of the menu. From main course to desserts, Chef Silvia Grimaldo from Vinoteca, Worli, teaches you how to whip up three interesting strawberry-based dishes with ease.

Appetiser

Tenderloin Beef Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette

Ingredients :

For the vinaigrette:

50 gm strawberries (sliced)

10 gm honey

10 ml lemon juice

60 ml olive oil

20 gm Dijon mustard

10 gm sugar

15 ml vinegar

For the salad:

100 gm beef tenderloin

50 gm green lettuce

60 gm green beans

10 gm white sesame seeds

10 gm Parmesan cheese (flaked)

5 ml soy sauce

5 ml sesame oil 

2 ml lemon juice

Method

For the vinaigrette, blitz strawberries in a blender and transfer the purée into a pan. Add sugar and vinegar and cook for 10 minutes, then let it cool. In a bowl, mix olive oil with Dijon mustard, lemon juice, honey and add the strawberry mixture to it. Mix well and keep aside. In another pan, boil water and green beans for 7 minutes. Strain and keep aside. In a bowl, mix soy sauce with sesame oil and lemon juice and marinate the beef cut in it for 2-3 hours. Sear on a hot pan for 5 minutes on each side and slice it thinly. On plate, place the lettuce leaves, then sliced strawberries, green beans and sesame seeds. Place meat slices on top, drizzle the vinaigrette. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Main course

Yellow Tuna Tartar

Ingredients

For tuna:

25 gm strawberries

60 gm tuna

15 ml sesame oil

50 ml olive oil

1/2 tsp soy sauce

10 ml lemon juice

5 gm chives

1 tsp black sesame seeds

For guacamole:

50 gm avocados

10 gm onion

20 gm alfalfa sprouts

50 gm tomato

10 gm coriander

10 ml lemon juice

Half a green chilli

Dash of tobacco

salt

Method

Keep tuna in a freezer for 20 minutes. Mix olive oil with strawberries, sesame oil, soy sauce, lemon juice and chives. Marinate fish in this mixture for 8 minutes. In another bowl, make guacamole by mashing avocado insides with a fork. Add onions, chillies, tomato and coriander to it. Spice up the guacamole with a dash of Tabasco sauce, olive oil and lemon juice and keep aside. To plate the dish, make a bed of alfalfa sprouts and place the guacamole on top. Perch the tuna on this and garnish with freshly chopped pieces of strawberries before serving. 

Strawberry facts

Strawberries can grow in a domestic environment, be it for consumption or exhibition purposes, almost anywhere in the world. The best time to plant is in late summer or spring.

Dessert

Spicy Chocolate Fondue with Strawberry Pintxo

Ingredients

250 gm strawberries

100 gm dark chocolate (80 per cent)

10 gm red chilli

20 ml milk

Method

Melt dark chocolate in a double boiler or microwave. Add red chilli powder and milk and stir for 5 minutes. Then dip the tips of strawberry in this liquid, so the chocolate fully coats the berry. Cool it in the refrigerator till chocolate hardens. Serve cold.