Strawberry Meals Occasionally

Dear Saucyman, I love fruit- fresh, in pies, cobblers, clafoutis, etc... but I can't stand it when faced with a watery strawberry dipped in waxy chocolate. Why ruin both the chocolate and the berry like that? Please make it stop. – Perplexed.

I’m not sure I have the ability to stop strawberries and chocolate from being used together. I don’t enjoy the combination either but if I did possess some sort of superpower to stop things culturally I would use it to stop Kobe Bryant traveling every time he touches the basketball – he is talented enough that he doesn’t need a special interpretation of the rules. And I would definitely stop that voiceover guy from saying “In a far away land…” at the beginning of every freakin' foreign film trailer they show at the movies.

But personal fiats are not the issue at hand rather what you find to be the unseemly marriage of strawberry and chocolate. While the two flavors that might not taste good together is essentially a matter of preference, it is compounded by the fact that strawberries, notably the California varieties which are selected so they can be grown 11 months a year and be able to withstand picking, packing and up to 4 days in a truck to reach their destination don’t taste like much of anything. From this perspective dipping flavorless red fruit into chocolate actually improves the berry.

The best thing you can do to stop the berry/chocolate atrocity is buy local. California growers dominate the market (20% worldwide) but strawberries can be grown anywhere. Your area farmers are going to serve up the freshest, most flavorful, juiciest berry - one that doesn’t need to be masked in layers of chocolate. Besides garnering the best berries available in your zipcode, you will be supporting local agriculture. Berries, strawberries in particular are a major cash infusion for small-scale farmers; strawberry farms as small as 10 acres can provide a year’s worth of profits.

Buying local reduces strawberries to a seasonal treat, which is kind of harsh – consumers expect berries year around and personally - come February, March and April when there really isn’t that much going on in the local fruit scene, that big, cumulus strawberry means so much more than the fruit itself. Even if those strawberries are as billowy and flavorful as a cloud, that burst of color is a promise that easier, kinder days are just around the corner and buying a pint is like the produce equivalent of buying a lottery ticket, for a nominal fee you allow yourself to dream about how things could be different.

Beyond staying local and seasonal you personally can work to eradicate the need to dip berries in chocolate. Pie is good, strawberries baked in a pastry with acidic rhubarb (found in stores about the same time) draws out the flavor of even the lamest berry. If rhubarb is cost or flavor prohibitive, try lemon juice or even better, balsamic vinegar. The vinegar contrasts the berry’s sweet notes and the dark color of the balsamic really helps set the red color, possibly even improve it.

Instead of whip cream, try Sauce Romanoff – 1 part Sour Cream to 3 parts Chantilly (Sweetened Whipped Cream). Serve Angel food cake instead of the baking powder biscuits. Try brown sugar or honey to sweeten the strawberries rather than white sugar. And booze, an Orange Liqueur like Grand Mariner, or a flavored brandy like kirsch or framboise has never hurt a less than ideal strawberry. The more active you are in helping people understand strawberries can be good without a chocolate coating, the better your world becomes.



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