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Strawberries
About strawberries, Russ Parsons, food and wine columnist of the Los Angeles Times and author of How to Pick a Peach, The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table, writes the following:
In northern New England, this is the season for locally grown strawberries. Last weekend I purchased three quarts. Though my car windows were open and my drive home was short, the car was filled with the essence of fresh strawberries when I pulled into the garage.
I ate strawberries as I carried the boxes to the house. Later I put strawberries in my glass of Chablis. After dinner, my dessert was a bowl of fresh strawberries with sliced almonds and a bit of yogurt. The next morning I had strawberries on my breakfast cereal.
The strawberry, which is a member of the rose family, is the most universally grown fruit. It is indigenous to every continent except Africa and Oceania where Australia and New Zealand are located. Nearly 200 seeds are located in pits on the surface of each strawberry.
Strawberries are low in calories and nutritious. A cup has 55 calories and supplies nearly 100 mg of Vitamin C, almost twice the Recommended Daily Dietary allowance.
Strawberries, which are native to the Americas, were cultivated by native Americans who used them for dyes and crushed them in a mortar to mix with meal for making strawberry bread. Most strawberries grown in America are a hybrid of North and South American varieties. The crossbreeding was done by mistake in Europe because a naval officer named Freziers imported only female South American plants. The female Chilean strawberries were cross bred with wild Virginia strawberries. The cross-breed plants were exported from Europe to America.
If you want to enjoy the best of tasty, aromatic, delicate strawberries, take the advice of Russ Parsons and visit a local farmers' market or stop by a farm that sells fresh strawberries such as the following:
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