Strawberries, Fragole

Fragole in Sicily are in season from early spring to early summer, which means we shall be saying goodbye to them soon (though we do have melon season coming up to ease the pain.)

When I was growing up, strawberries were best eaten right of the bush. Maybe a quick rinse under the tap, but otherwise unchanged. I still enjoy them that way, but here in Sicily it is much more common to dress them up a bit.
Which in AmoreMio's family means dicing them up and mixing with sugar and brandy.

 This dish becomes a staple of Sunday lunches when fragole are in season, and Mamma always enjoys surprising us by hiding them in the fridge while we eat. Once we've finished with the meal, she takes the crystal bowel out of the fridge with a flourish and spoons out the servings with a generous topping of whipped cream.

The only problem is that it often results in much overeating. This is because le fragole are too sweet to be served with the fruit course, but not indulgent enough to really be considered dessert.

The solution, it seems, is to serve it as a course unto itself, between the fruit course and dessert... And those of us who hadn't been aware that there were strawberries in Mamma's fridge, find themselves trying to fit an entire extra course into a stomach that had already been precisely rationed to hold only three courses, with the full knowledge that we won't be permitted to leave the table without fitting in dessert too.

So feel free to make this recipe, but please be kind and warn everyone sitting at the table that they need to keep some room available for the extra course.