Digory, the photos you posted all look tasty to me!

Gooseberries are very common in forested areas of northern Minnesota (and there is even a Gooseberry Falls State Park on Lake Superior). At first the berries are green (as pictured above) and rather tart, but the ripe ones are almost purple, and more sweet than tart (perhaps a different species than those in your area, aileth, given the difference in color when ripe). They also tend to be quite a bit smaller than grapes here (half an inch, or 12mm, would be big one), perhaps due to being a different variety, or due to the harsher climate.

Apparently there are a lot of different varieties of gooseberries.

I've only ever seen the green ones; in my mind, they are always associated with red and black currants, probably because ours are planted in the same spot, and ripen at approximately the same time.

Quite nice, if they're really, REALLY ripe, translucent and almost golden, otherwise they are mouth-puckeringly tart. And in a dessert with a bit of sugar and cream and custard--mmmm!

Maybe because I rarely, if ever, see them in the supermarkets or in the greengrocers. I did try those green ones in stargazer's pictures something like 55 years ago, but never tried them since. Kiwi fruit & Kiwi berries are far more popular here. (Now I wonder why that might be?) Stargazer, I did like the look of the gooseberry fool, though. More delicious clotted fresh cream than custard.

Gooseberries grow in Norway, too - at least a greenish variety. I like the jam, not so keen on just the berries.

Kiwi fruit is quite popular in Norway, but is only imported, I think. I guess they started importing it some 30 or 40 years ago, and I don't think they grow it in hothouses here (I don't even know if it's possible to grow it like that). I really like the taste.

Kiwi fruit is quite popular in Norway, but is only imported, I think. I guess they started importing it some 30 or 40 years ago, and I don't think they grow it in hothouses here (I don't even know if it's possible to grow it like that). I really like the taste.

Hothouses may not be altogether necessary, since Southern New Zealand is about the same latitudes, or further south than is the Australian state of Tasmania. (The reason why fellow Aussies call Tasmanians, Taswegians. ) When I was young what we now call Kiwi fruit was actually called Chinese gooseberries, & to boost sales from New Zealander suppliers, I think, they were rechristened Kiwi fruit. Kiwis of course are New Zealand's national birds, & we call New Zealanders as a whole the Kiwis, just as we are called the Aussies, & our football teams the Wallabies & the Kangaroos etc. We have just as much rivalry with NZ over pavlova, a delicious dessert with nice fluffy insides & crispy brown meringue -like outsides, often decorated with whipped or clotted cream, chocolate, berries, other fruits like peaches, apricots, passionfruit pulp, bananas & yes, kiwi fruit slices.

That is why I thought fools must be something like Pavlovas (named here after a Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, who toured both Australia & New Zealand many moons ago to dance for us Antipodeans (Monopods, Dufflepuds?). Though Stargazer's photos make a gooseberry fool look delicious enough. It looks more like a gorgeously inviting parfait, or what in Harry Potter books I learned was a Knickerbocker glory, or something called in England "Eton mess" to tell the truth.

I expected though that some of the fish eg Pavenders mentioned by C.S.Lewis, in VDT & in other books might have invented names as well to fit into his story better.

We have just as much rivalry with NZ over pavlova, a delicious dessert with nice fluffy insides & crispy brown meringue -like outsides, often decorated with whipped or clotted cream, chocolate, berries, other fruits like peaches, apricots, passionfruit pulp, bananas & yes, kiwi fruit slices.

Sounds delicious!