I am a pretty big tennis fan. And this weekend just happens to be the final weekend of Wimbledon. Nothing is more iconic of Wimbledon than strawberries and cream, a tradition at the Big W since the tournament’s origins in the late 1800s.

Photo courtesy of Reuters

According to the New York Times, legend has it that King George V introduced strawberries and cream to courtside crowds. But the tradition actually dates from around the time of the first Wimbledon tournament in 1877, according to Audrey Snell, a librarian at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum. The strawberry season just happened to coincided with the arrival of the tournament.

Check out a few other facts about the strawberries and cream served at the All England Club. Enjoy the tennis!

• Served in a cup containing not less than 10 strawberries.
• 8,615 cups of strawberries are consumed per day.
• 28,000 kg of strawberries are consumed over the two-week tournament, served with over 7,000 litres of fresh cream.
• To ensure the utmost freshness, strawberries are picked the day before being served. They arrive at Wimbledon at around 5:30 a.m. where they are inspected.
• The price for a cup of strawberries and cream at Wimbledon 2012 is £2.5 or CAN$4.90.

Photo courtesy of vw.co.uk