Cassia-Cognac Strawberries

Had Chinese cooks of classic times known our familiar wild or wood strawberry (Fragaria vesca), they would have loved it, both for its felicitous red color and its multitude of tiny seeds (the word for “seeds” in Chinese being a homonym for much-desired “sons”). Here, to make up for lost centuries, is a simple, Cognac-laced dish of fresh strawberries, turned smooth and a blazing ruby by a light honey syrup. It is a very pretty dish that can be prepared in minutes.