Strawberry, Raspberry, Blueberry, Cranberry

Appears in

Published 1989

About

In the kitchen, berries can be divided into soft types, such as strawberries and raspberries, and firm ones like currants, gooseberries and cranberries. Soft berries are best raw but are extremely perishable. They should be washed only when sandy, as washing softens them and rinses away some of their perfume. Firm berries are almost always cooked, and are often puréed and mixed with other ingredients for incorporating in desserts and preserves. Many berries grow best in cool, northern climates.

Nowadays we take strawberries for granted, but they are a fairly recent development, resulting from careful crossbreeding of a small wild American strawberry with a juicy specimen from Chile. Wild strawberries (Fr. fraises des bois), also called alpine or wood strawberries, are now cultivated as well. They are valued for their fragrance, and when choosing all strawberries, an intense perfume is the best indication of quality. Both wild and domestic strawberries should have their hulls (short leafy green stem) intact. Usually these are removed for serving, but they may be left as decoration, or for dipping the fruit in chocolate or cream.