At the moment, in my mind, these bad boys take top spot at proving how shitty and dumbed down imported-out-of-season-food can be. Fresh strawberries from a plant that was actually bred to produce tasty strawberries, kick ass. If they were a wine, I’d score them 95+ while the crap-styrofoamy-immitation strawberries we get from abroad [no offense, cali-foilks, but the strawberries they ship here in the winter suck] would score down in the 55-75 range. The gap is that large. Perhaps the biggest gap in flavor intensity and quality between seasonal/local and imported/out-of-season that I can think of. If you can one-up me here, give ‘er.
As an aside. Most folks know wild strawberries rock, and their concentration of flavor is insane. Last year I yoinked a bunch of wild plants from a local field, and transplanted them in my garden. They are freaking out they’re so happy – with space, less competition, and water. They’re also producing teenie strawberry gems, and propagating like rabbits all over the ground – which is fine by me. Jury is still out on whether they are that much better in flavor to make up for their significantly smaller size. I’m gonna guess no. The tasty-bred-big-guys are truly awesome.
4 Comments on “The Strawberry Gap”
Total agreement.
Pineapple comes to mind, from hearsay. People I know can’t eat it anymore, after eating it near the growing point.
So for Edmonton, that means Berries of many types, and a few hardy apples…that will have the right non-early picked flavour.
Sigh.
What kind of strawberry are you talking about? Any homegrown kind? Not been my experience… and they are dying out every year. This is the first year in 7 that I haven’t had any. Too few with too much space to grow and too little produce prompted that call. But, if there is a kind I don’t know about – I’m there, now! Vanja’s parents have a huge place in Bosna and the wild strawberries are everywhere. She picks and freezes them daily – and probably gets about a litre through the season. All I can say is that one litre is shared by all and is insane is the perfect word to describe the powerful flavour of these tiny little treats.
Brent – I think a lot of fruit would fall into this category, no question.
Valerie – I have 3 varieties [I think] that I bought from T&T Seeds. I checked for you, but their website isn’t functioning, so I don’t know what varietals I have. I’m curious why yours winter killed, and why I may be having luck with them. My wild plants are going bonkers, as I mentioned, so by next year I should have more than enough to share if you want to try a few – if for no other reason than they seem to make an effective ground cover.
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