In defence of...

The gooseberry.
I love gooseberries. I absolutely adore them. In pies or crumbles, as fools or sherberts or just eaten raw straight off the bush the hairy little barstads are fantastic. Everything about them is brilliant, they're so very green with those crazy little stripes and that fine 'hair' that covers them is just crazy and, like all the best berries, the slightly bitter taste that follows the delicious juciness when you bite into one just makes your tongue fizz. Myself I have memories of my childhood home with it's enormous garden that just exploded with berries and fruit from trees and bushes, my favourite of which was our goosberries. My Ma was forever buggering about in the kitchen knocking up fruit pies and berry crumbles whilst Pete & I just pissed around in the garden playing 'Batman & Robin' or 'War' picking the blackberries & gooseberries off the many bushses that grew the whole length of our garden.
So, why do I have to defend them, well I don't recall having seen them for sale this year. The gooseberry season starts in June and I'm pretty certain that I didn't see any in our local Waitrose this year. I also haven't seen many gooseberry related recipes on Jamie Oliver's, Gordon Ramsay's or even Ainsley 'Bloody' Harriot's shows. Are they out of vogue? They may not be as obviously tarty as blackberries, nor do they look as fragrant as a fat juicy strawberry, but believe me they're lovely. They don't have to whore themselves out nor do they need to associate themselves with a major sporting event. Sure they're hairy and yes, green is a pretty unfashionable colour for a berry but these guys rule the roost as far as I'm concerned.