Stephen Wheeler tells us all we need to know about strawberries
Strawberries are the only fruit with the seeds on the outside; 200 on average, which technically doesn’t make them a berry, and no-one quite knows where the ‘straw’ bit comes from, but the start of the English crop is a sure sign that summer’s on its way!
At Mise en Place we’ll be buying over 2000 punnets a week of English strawberries, a good proportion from local growers, to supply to chefs all over the Cotswolds. During the Wimbledon tennis fortnight however a staggering twenty-five thousand punnets a week will be consumed, along with 3500 litres of cream.
At the peak of harvesting in June and July, Britain grows 85% of total domestic demand, but pick-your-own as a national pastime has dwindled over the years, even though ‘table-top’ picking has replaced the back-breaking crops grown at ground level. Nowadays we prefer to buy them from the supermarkets or farmshops – but that’s probably got a lot to do with falling prices as production techniques improve, and ever-higher yielding varieties are developed.
Chefs in the region are increasing asking for wild strawberries. The berries are small, up to 1cm long, dark matt red in colour and don’t have to be hulled. The flavour and aroma of wild strawberries surpasses those of cultivated ones, but their beauty is short-lived. Once picked, they have to be eaten within 48 hours – and try to pick your own. I’ve just about found a punnet full in Cotswold hedgerows in the midsummer. To buy a tray of 12 x 100g punnets of French wild strawberries would cost a chef around £100 at today’s market prices.
As an ingredient and flavouring, there aren’t many food products that can compete with a strawberry. Drinks, confectionery, yogurts, ice-cream, desserts and bakery are all offered with the strawberry optional extra. A straw (berry) poll around my kitchen table included strawberry and marshmallow kebabs dipped in a chocolate fountain. Or sprinkled with sugar and served with a generous dollop of clotted cream, and my personal favourite; homemade strawberry jam on a thick slice of bread and butter. They seem to fit perfectly into the bottom of a champagne glass too!
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5th June 2010
Lovely Strawberries
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