Strawberries -at a glance
Did you know? Strawberries have around 200 seeds on the outside.
Food family: Although we often think of them as a berry, they are actually part of the Rose family. Eatwell Guide group: Fruit and vegetables. Main nutrient: High in vitamin C and B6 which is good for the brain. Origin: Strawberries first grew in the Northern Hemisphere, in areas with mild temperatures such as North America and Europe. Now grown throughout the world. Season: Buy British strawberries late spring to early autumn. Storage: Store whole and unwashed in the fridge. Can be frozen or dried.
SIZE About 2-4cm in length
Useful words:
If someone tells you to ‘hull’ a strawberry, they mean you should take the green calyx off.
Flesh Peduncle (stalk)
Calyx (leaves) Achene (seeds)
TOP FACT! 27,000kg of strawberries are eaten during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships each year. That’s about 2 million strawberries (served with 7,000 litres of cream)!
GROWING History
Strawberries used to be known as ‘strewberries’. This was because the berries grew very close to the ground and were found ‘strewn’ on the forest floor. Henry VIII enjoyed eating strawberries, although his would have been much smaller than the ones we eat today. They were grown at his palace in Beaulieu, Essex, by a gardener called Jasper. Almost all the strawberries grown in Britain today are a cross between a North American species brought here in the 17th century and a South American species brought here in the 18th century.
where ARE THEY grown today?
China and the United States grow the most cultivated strawberries in the world. Here in the UK, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Lancashire are all big regions for strawberry farms.
You will find lots of strawberries on sale at Borough Market in the summer, including at traders Stark’s Fruiterers, Paul Crane and Elsey & Bent.
t for Look ourry jam strawbeosebud at R s too! Preserve
From this... ... to this Strawberries can be grown from seeds but more often farmers grow new plants from their old plants.
Strawberries are picked as soon as they are ripe. They will go from white to red.
Once each flower is pollinated by ladybirds or bees, it becomes a strawberry. (See Borough Market’s Honey unit for more on pollination)
The old plants send out long shoots called ‘runners’ that run horizontally on the surface of soil.
How are they
grown?
The strawberry plant produces lots of white flowers.
Strawberry plants love warm sunny weather and like lots of water
At the end of the runner a new clone plant grows roots. The farmer picks off the clone plant and uses it for the next season.
This new young plant is put in the ground, often under cover or in giant greenhouses.
to protect it from cold weather, birds and insects
Did you know? In nature, strawberries are ready to eat from late spring to early autumn but you often see them in supermarkets all year round. This is because shops get them shipped over from other countries or grow them in special tunnels in the winter. These are usually more expensive and less tasty – so best to wait for the British summer ones!
VARIETIES
Bef
There are hundreds of different strawberry varieties. They come in lots of shapes and sizes, have different levels of sweetness and can even vary in colour.
h e y ri pe n t e or
Some are better than others at fighting disease or surviving tough weather conditions. That’s why farmers sometimes mix varieties together to create a ‘perfect’ strawberry that will grow easily and taste good. This is called crossbreeding.
G
e w w b e r r y fl o
r
Stra
uette g i r a
are usually s ie r r e b w a r Wild st ea und, a bit lik small and ro there is a , t c a f n (i y r raspber ar looks so simil variety that rasberry’!) t ‘s a it d e ll they ca
ite h w w o n S
Wi l d Different varieties ripen at different speeds. The French Gariguettes strawberries are usually the first to be ripe in late spring. They are long in shape and very juicy. Strawberries usually start very pale green or white and then turn red as they ripen. But there are some varieties of strawberry that stay white, like the Snow White that tastes a little bit like pineapple. Wild strawberries are much smaller than commercial ones and have a rougher texture.
If you have strawberries growing at home or go to a ‘pick you own’ farm, compare the flavour of the lighter strawberries with the deep red ones. You should find that the riper the strawberry, the sweeter it is.
COOKING & EATING! Eating strawberries helps keep our hearts, muscles and brain healthy.
Show + share We’d love to see all your experiments with strawberries so don’t forget to take some pictures to share! Tag #marketexplorers and tell us why you love strawberries
PREP
Hulling hack
To get maximum flavour out of strawberries, it’s best to eat them at room temperature so leave them out of the fridge a while before you dig in. The green leaves (calyx) are not edible so you’ll need to take these off.
Place a paper straw (or metal one if you have one) at the bottom of a strawberry and gently push all the way through, aiming for the green leaves at the top. The leaves and stalk should pop out!
You can eat strawberries raw or cook with them. You can also freeze them or dry them out at a low temperature in the oven. They start getting bruised and squishy when they are getting old. This is the perfect time to turn them into jam! Once they are mouldy though, it’s best to throw them away.
tsp = teaspoon
tbsp = tablespoon
RAW
Strawberry kebabs.
1. Using a straw, hull 10 strawberries and thread onto two wooden skewers with your choice of banana, mango, kiwi, grapes, or any other seasonal fruit you like. 2. Add a squeeze of lime juice over the top and some ripped up fresh mint leaves.
FROZEN
Instant strawberry ice cream.
1. Hull a punnet of strawberries and pop them in the freezer.
way or put a t h ig a r t Eat s ontainer c a in e r u the mixt zer in the free
2. Once they are completely frozen, put them in a food processor with 1-2 tbsps honey and 2 tbsps yoghurt. Ask an adult to help you give it a quick whizz in the food processor (too long and it will melt!)
COOKED Vanilla cheesecake with strawberry sauce.
1. Bash 4 digestive biscuits into crumbs. 2. Mix with 3 tbsps melted butter and press into the bottom of 2-3 small glasses or jars.
5. Heat 100g strawberries in a pan with a 1 tsp icing sugar until they go soft and squishy.
3. In a clean bowl mix 150g soft cheese, 1 tsp runny honey and 1-2 drops vanilla extract or paste.
6. Wait for the mixture to cool then pass it through a sieve to get rid of the seeds.
4. Gently spoon the cheesy mixture over the biscuit base. Cover and chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.
7. Serve your cheesecake with the lovely strawberry sauce and a few extra slices of strawberries on top.
Tag us! Please tag us in any photos or videos taken while exploring these units.
@boroughmarket #marketexplorers
© Borough Market 2020
This unit is part of Borough Market’s Market Explorers series, helping primary school children discover more about the produce sold in the Market. Each booklet looks at a specific ingredient from field to fork, and has been devised in collaboration with children’s cooking authors and TV consultants Sally Brown and Kate Morris – the duo behind CBeebies ‘i can cook’ and ‘My World Kitchen’.