"Summer is a season to rejoice", said England's King Henry VIII, "for of berries I can eat my fill every day". Henry was not the only monarch in history to have a passion for berries. France's Louis IX considered them "the most sensual and delicious of all fruits; Frederick the Great of Prussia said that "when eaten plain they are merely marvelous but when eaten with sweet cream they are indescribably magnificent"; and Roman emperor Hadrian declared them to be "indispensable to human happiness".

Long known as being among the most delicate of fruits, fresh berries are tempting and refreshing when eaten plain, with a bit of sugar sprinkled over them or with whipped cream. In addition to being an ideal dessert, especially after heavy meals, berries also make excellent garnishes to dishes based on goose liver, baked beef and roast quail, duck or chicken. My personal bias tells me that regardless of whether at breakfast, lunch or dinner, the ideal wine to complement any dish containing berries is Champagne.

Born not in France but in California, one of the most popular combinations in haute cuisine today is that between goose liver and berries. Chef Benny Gotleib of the Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv had delighted me by preparing a sauce in which red and black raspberries are cooked together with mustard powder and dry red wine. After cooking the sauce is enriched with red wine vinegar, the grated rinds of lemons and oranges and salt and pepper. The sauce is then spooned over slices of goose liver that have been cooked on a hot grill. Following through on a similar theme, chef David Lazar, formely of Tel Aviv's "Marie Antoinette" coats slices of goose liver very lightly with flour and fries them in butter until they are barely cooked. The goose liver is set aside while he melts butter in a saucepan, adds flour, mixed berries, wine vinegar, salt, pepper and honey. The mixture is cooked for about 10 minutes, the goose liver is added to the pan and cooked for 1 -2 minutes longer before being served sizzling hot.

As much as I enjoy both of those dishes, the goose liver and berry combination that makes me smile most is the "goose liver and apple sandwich" served at "Silks" Among the very best of American restaurants, the chef of the restaurant, which is located in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in San Francisco, starts this dish by heating sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan until they are caramelized. Blackberries, raspberries and duck stock are added to the pan and, when the liquids have the consistency of a sauce, butter and Calvados are added. Just before serving, a sweet apple is then cored, sliced and warmed in the sauce. At the same time, thick slices of goose liver are seared in a smoking hot pan. Layers of apple slices and goose liver are built on a plate, the sauce is spooned over and the dish is garnished with chopped chives.

As if to prove that these fruits are as well matched to fowl as to goose liver, Israeli chef Mickey Nir prepares an exquisite gallantine with berries. His personal version of a classic French preparation, Nir starts by completely deboning a duck or chicken, laying the bird out flat and coating in generously with a puree of chopped veal, egg, sweet cream (or a parve substitute) and Cognac. The puree is sprinkled over with pistachio nuts and finally, with mixed berries. The bird is then rolled, formed into a an attractive shape, cooked in the oven for about an hour and then allowed to cool. Just before serving the meat is sliced and served with a sauce made from berry jam and orange juice.

Equally tempting to the eye and as rewarding on the palate are three dishes I know well from France. The first of these, of wild duck with raspberries and cherries served in a sauce based on duck stock and Calvados brandy has been a staple on the menu of the Auberge des Templiers in Les Bezards, which is not far from the 0D? city of Orleans. The second, of wild partridge with red raspberries and cranberries has delighted me for more than twenty five years at Le Moulin du Roc in the Dodrogne village of Champagnac de Belair. The third and, perhaps my favorite, is the offering of Restaurant Laurent in Paris of crisp duckling breast that has been first sauteed in butter and then finished under the grill before being served with a thick black currant red wine sauce.

When it comes to desserts based on berries, I am hard pressed to come up with a list of those I have enjoyed most. The yoghurt sorbet and black raspberry coulis of chef Victor Gloger; the millefeuille with pastry cream with a coulis of blueberries of Didi Ben Arush; and the fruit salad with blueberry sauce of Yossi Inbar have each put me in poetic moods at one time or another. Ram Marshall's maple mousse with a compote of raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, was so good it brought me almost to the point of tears.

Despite the pleasures those dishes gave me, the dessert that actually succeeded in bringing me to my feet in order to seek out and kiss the chef on the cheek was the exquisite Sabayone with berry syrup of chef Eran Harel of the Tel Aviv Hilton Hotel. The delicate Sabayon is made by whipping together egg yolks, sugar syrup, Port wine, Cointreau liqueur and heating them in a bain marie. The syrup is made by cooking gently water, sugar, port wine, lemon juice, cinnamon, cloves and strawberries or other berries. Immediately before serving, whole berries are added to this syrup, which is spooned into an individual serving glass and then topped with the sabayon. Taken together with a small glass of Armagnac and an equally small espresso coffee, the dish was perfection.

No recipes in this article!!! The descriptions of the dishes were quite enough for me and I hope they were for you as well.

© Daniel Rogov