Rachel Khoo: strawberry and cherry tomato salad with savoury whipped cream

Despite having lived in London for many years, I have yet to go to Wimbledon. I do, however, like to listen to a match on the radio while I go about the kitchen. It’s a tradition that goes back to my student days at Central Saint Martins, when I used to have the tennis on in the background while I worked on art projects. The rhythmic sound of the ball being hit back and forth, punctuated by loud grunts, is soothing to my ears. And I do like to complete my Wimbledon ritual with the obligatory strawberries and cream.

Even though I’m a traditional girl at heart, I like to put a twist on things. Inspiration for this recipe came from discovering, while researching flavour pairing, that strawberries and tomatoes have the same flavour components. The Italians didn’t need scientific confirmation to understand how similar the two are; they’ve been pairing both with balsamic vinegar for centuries. From there it’s just a quick culinary twist to transform a sweet chantilly into a savoury one.

Before you think I’m going to go all Heston on you about how you can make a savoury whipped cream using a whole bunch of gadgets, read on…

Strawberry and cherry tomato salad with savoury whipped cream

Serves 4 as a starter, pudding or cheese course

1 punnet of sweet, ripe strawberries
10 cherry tomatoes
150g spreadable goat’s cheese
150ml whipped cream
Coarse sea salt
Balsamic vinegar

Method

1. Wash and dry the strawberries and tomatoes. Remove the stems and cut the strawberries and tomatoes in half.

2. To make the savoury cream, beat the soft goat’s cheese until smooth. Fold in half the whipped cream to loosen the mix. Fold in the rest and season with salt to taste.

3. Either serve the salad in individual dishes with a dollop of the cream and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, or serve it in a large dish with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and let everyone help themselves to cream.