Strawberry Fields Forever: Tips and tricks for Quebec's strawberry season
Local chefs and farmers share tips on selecting, storing and preparing strawberries
It's strawberry season, and there's nothing quite like a sweet, petite Quebec-grown berry.
But finding the ideal strawberry is not always the easiest task.
With more than 40 years of strawberry-growing experience behind him, Richard Wera, the owner of a u-pick operation in Waterville, Que., knows just how to select the right fruit.
Wera says that when you're picking berries off the plant, the colour is a key indicator of ripeness.
"You have to make sure they are entirely red. You have to pull away the fruit and look on all sides, to make sure the back is not green," he told CBC's Daybreak.
"If it's not completely red, it will not be as sweet."
Colour is crucial, as strawberries stop ripening once they're plucked off the plant. Even though they may continue reddening, strawberries remain as tart as they were when picked.
This makes finding the perfect strawberries at the grocery quite the feat.
But it's not impossible:
- Ripe berries should be red, and squishy – but not too squishy. If they're firm, it's likely they're tart.
- The skin of the berries should also be smooth. Beware of leathery-looking strawberry skin, as it means the berry is likely old.
Wera recommends that if you do buy strawberries in the store, buy local. In order to ship strawberries from afar, farmers must pick them before they ripen.
Dominic Lalonde, the chef at Plateau hot-spot Majestique, refuses to buy anything but Quebec strawberries. He'd more readily slash an item from his menu than buy American – especially Californian – fruit.
Storing the fruit also takes technique.
If strawberries are good, they should only have a two or three day life span once ripe.
If berries are lasting for longer than three days, that may actually be a negative sign.
Pablo Rojas, a chef at the farm-to-table restaurant Provisions 1268 in Outremont, recommends storing the strawberries out of the fridge.
"They lose their sweetness in the fridge," he told CBC Daybreak.
If you're not eating ripe strawberries immediately, Wera recommends freezing them.
In order to keep them from sticking together, he lays them out on a cookie sheet and freezes them for about half an hour, until they firm up. This keeps them from sticking together, making them easier to use later on.
He then tosses them all in a zip-lock bag and puts them back in the freezer.
Wera will often defrost the strawberries months later, cooking them down into a jam or using them as decoration.
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Your strawberries are overripe? All is not lost.
Lalonde recommends adding sugar and cooking them down into a compote or a jam.
And when they're unripe? That's more difficult. If they're still green, Rojas pickles the berries.
His simple pickling recipe involves adding the berries to a mix of vinegar, sugar, and spices – most often star anise, fennel seed and black pepper.
Wera, too, has creative ways to keep the fruit exciting throughout the season.
One of the strawberry farmer's easy, unconventional options is blending berries, egg whites and sugar or honey to make a strawberry meringue. With fresh Quebec strawberries, he recommends dropping them in a glass of champagne.
Rojas likes to turn strawberries into simple syrup.
To do that, he takes strawberry leaves, a bit of the fruit and then sugar and water. He cooks the mix down into a syrup and adds it to all sorts of drinks.
Otherwise, Rojas describes himself as a bit of a strawberry purist, serving the berries fresh and almost always in desserts. Occasionally, however, he'll puree the berries and toss them over some foie gras.
Lalonde also sticks to the classics: strawberry shortcake, strawberry sorbet and strawberry mousse. He tosses certain strawberry varieties – the sweet and firm ones – into salads or on top of fish. His bottom line is to preserve the integrity of the berry.
"I let the product speak for itself," he told CBC Daybreak.
Another of Lalonde's favourites? Strawberry Pavlova. Below is his recipe:
Dominic Lalonde's Strawberry Pavlova
Strawberry compote
- 8 cups of strawberries, quartered
- 1/4 cup sugar
- juice of one lemon
Mix the strawberries, sugar and lemon ingredients together in a pot and bring to a simmer, cooking for 5 to 10 minutes.
"I prefer not to cook my compote all the way, so there's still texture to it," Lalonde adds.
For the meringue:
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 cup sugar
In a mixer, whisk the egg white until foamy. Add the sugar and whisk until firm peaks form, about 8 minutes. Spread in a thin, even layer on a baking sheet and cook at 175 F for 2 hours.
Plus:
- Raw strawberries
- Whipped cream
- Roasted pistachios or hazelnuts
- Fresh mint leaves
To assemble: