I miss strawberries!
By arkaf61
@arkaf61 (10881)
Canada
April 21, 2008 6:18pm CST
I know, I know. THere are plenty of strawberries here. But they really aren't the same thing.
They're huge! THey look great! But once one bites them there is no flavour, no sweetness...
Back home strawberries are small. SOmetimes they don't even look that great at the first sight. But not once did I ever put sugar on them to eat them. There was no need because they were so sweet.
WHen I came here I looked at the strawberries and thought to myself " Wow .. look how big and nice" The first time I bought them the anticipation was just too much. I could hardly wait to get home to wash them and have a handful.
Oh, the disappointment!!! THe first one was so sour it made my eyes cry. Thinking I had just gotten a bad one I tried again with the same result.
After a few more tries I just gave up. Oh I still buy them. But with very few and rare exceptions I can't eat them just like that, without sugar or something to make them sweeter.
Sometimes I find some that are nice and small and they even smell sweet, but it's very rare.
Do you like strawberries? Have you ever noticed that they tasted better somewhere else?
Do you have to sweeten them with something or can you eat them just like that, naturally natural?
6 people like this
20 responses
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
22 Apr 08
California Strawberries are really bitter this year. The weather hasn't been suitable for berries and now there is a possibility of more rain. Its bad when we have a heat wave and then very cold weather. I'm skipping the strawberry festival this year, as I haven't found any good berries this year.
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
22 Apr 08
This year we have had a heatwave with record temperatures for two days, then we almost had a freeze. The problem strawberries don't like these extreme temperatures and we grow a lot of them for the United States.
To people not on my friend list I live in California and strawberries are the major crop for my city.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
22 Apr 08
OH I know what you mean by this. The ones we get here down in Florida are nothing like I'd get when I was growing up in Michigan. Of course we picked them ourselves up there but the ones down here not the same. Yes they are huge but not near as sweet and often times quite tart. Of course the ones down here don't get the frost like up north, they often have to simulate the frost that they need. I don't think they get enough cold weather in the winter to make them grow as nice as the ones up north did. I still buy them but like you I have to add sugar or something to them to make them tolerable.
2 people like this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
23 Apr 08
I agree bigger is not always better. Personally with ears of corn I prefer the smaller niblets over the bigger ones. I find they taste far superior. It all depends on the item and what you like I suppose.
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
23 Apr 08
Years ago the strawberries did have nice flavor. But the marketers have bred the good flavor out for the pretty size that you see in the market place. The consumer like every thing uniform in size and looks and the real goodness is sacrificed for them.
2 people like this
@recycledgoth (9894)
•
22 Apr 08
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I love strawberries but you are right, they just don't taste the same these days. I used to go strawberry picking when I was younger, well one strawberry in the box and one in my mouth :-) I was thinking quite seriously of getting a large earthenware strawberry planter for the garden and growing my own this year. You just can't beat the taste of fresh young strawberries just off the plant, possibly with a light dusting of caster sugar and a dollop of cream :-)
2 people like this
@munhozmib (3836)
• Sao Paulo, Brazil
22 Apr 08
Hello, Arkaf61!
I used to eat strawberries when I was younger, but I never really liked them as you do. Yes, they taste great! However, some of them are always so bad, it feels like you are eating lemon! Just because of those, strawberries are not the greatest fruit in the world. They have their good taste, but I'm still for mangoes, totally.
Science is trying to change everything. They re-size fruits, they change their flavor, all "genetically comproved". What they don't know is that there is nothing better than the natural fruit.
And yes, if I have to eat fruits, they'll be natural!
Respectfully,
Munhozmib.
2 people like this
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
23 Apr 08
I agree with you. Completely. ALl the alterations to get better crops and bigger fruits have to cost. And the cost is that they are not as good.
I fear that sometime in the future people won't even know how the natural ones used to taste.
Thanks for responding.
1 person likes this
@cupid74 (11388)
• Pakistan
22 Apr 08
Hi dear
sure i like strawberries
i like their taste, their color and their smell too, well i dont have comparison but the strawberies we have here are not too big, sure color and smell is good and they taste sweet and sour
I like them
but always eat them without suger
but if have milk shahake or juice, then add little suger in it
Quite yummy post
Take care
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
23 Apr 08
There is always a bit of sour taste but the sweet tend to be stronger and that's what makes them so good. Unfortunately the ones in the supermarkets are just sour LOL
I tend to smell them, they smell different when they're sweet, at least to me. I can always smell certain fruits like strawberries and pineapples and be right about their sweetness.
1 person likes this
@cupid74 (11388)
• Pakistan
24 Apr 08
Hmmmm
u r right
its characteristic taste of Starberry, sweet with little sour
i do agree ripe strawberry have differnt smell, u can say ripe annd sweet smell
i can do that do
not sure about pineapples as we dont have pineaple plants here, the pineapple we ate is always very sweet as they are processed and in can with syrup
take care
wish u sweet and ripe strawberries
take care
wish u sweet and ripe strawberries
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
22 Apr 08
It really isn't quite strawberry season yet. I can not stand California or Florida Strawberries. I am so use to sweet Louisiana strawberries that I won't buy them in the store, just from the farmers market.
2 people like this
@minnie_98214 (10557)
• United States
22 Apr 08
They are so good when so sweet you need no sugar. We have been lucky and have had some really good ones lately. I tried to grow some in my yard but havent gotten a single fruit it sucks.
2 people like this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
22 Apr 08
Miss Strawberries? Next time you get some....do this.....
Strawberry Mice
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=50362&campaign=NLC-NL_Recipe&link=Section1Link4
2 people like this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
22 Apr 08
My parents house had a very small flat yard in the front maybe 8 feet from house to the hillside that went up to the street- she covered this hillside with strawberry plants! I do mean covered and it was nearly the length of the big house! We'd just go out, practically all year round (In Southern California) and pick a bowl, wash them and then either dip in tad of sugar or my fav - whipped cream!!!! Oh, man those were good! Anytime we had a pot luck or we to bring food thing, we'd do a HUGE dish/bowl of the berries with a bowl of whipped cream in the middle = a hit every time! My little pet bunnies loved strawberries too! We'd hand feed them and their little mouths (they were black dutch, so their mouth/nose area was white) and we'd hand feed them strawberries and their mouths would turn red! My grand daughter really loved that! Strawbverries and watermelon - my favorites!
1 person likes this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
22 Apr 08
They were so good. We also made strawberry pies most every week! My favorite!
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
22 Apr 08
Hello there arkaf, a very good day to you. I kind of like strawberries as well because of the juicy and sweet taste. But like you, I don't like the ones which aren't that sweet and though I'm a guy, I love dipping strawberries with chocolate or ice-cream. The taste is really superb and you can never find something with a nice taste as strawberries.
I love the "decoration" of strawberries on cakes as well. It just adds on to the creativity of it all.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
22 Apr 08
Strawberries are picked when they are just a little unripe so that they will last longer in the stores. For better ones you have to go to a fruit stand or a pick your own place. Now you are making me homesick for LA. The Oxnard Strawberry Festival is next month and I probably won't be able to go...
@athinapie (1150)
• Philippines
22 Apr 08
i like strawberries. but when it is freshly picked it kind of stings me. i like the strawberry jam better. i also like strawberry ice cream. does that count? well, at least there are strawberries in it right? hehe. but nevertheless, strawberries are really delicious.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (160665)
• United States
22 Apr 08
The big ones are just hybridized to fool us consumers. You will find better ones at a farmer's market instead of at a big store that deals with massive trade. I have some that are good right now, pretty big, but dark red and sweet. I have not sugared them to eat them.
1 person likes this
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
29 Apr 08
I miss strawberries too! I'm hoping to find some strawberry plants for sale this year so that I can grow my own, since I know I'm not gonna be able to buy many from the store with the prices being crazy.
I don't sweeten 'em, but then I've never really had a cause to 'cause most of the wild strawbrries are sweet and so're the ones from the farms.
I like to eat my strawberries as is, but I particularly enjoy them dipped in chocolate, or ice cream, or whipped cream lol.
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
22 Apr 08
Miss Strawberries? Next time you get some....do this....
Strawberry Mice
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=50362&campaign=NLC-NL_Recipe&link=Section1Link4
1 person likes this
@rainwater (352)
• China
22 Apr 08
I like strawberries,but I do not like sour strawberries too,so I buy very red strawberries,it tastes sweet.I do not like to eat them with suger or something,although it is not sweet.Because it is not the old taste,I do not feeling it very well.It is my opinion.
Good luck.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
27 Apr 08
I live in california and I have found that some of those huge strawberries come from Mexico and they are gorgeous to look at and evene keep pretty well but are actually without much flavor while when I get our home grown berries here they are also big but are sweet and r ipe and do not keeplong but are as flavorful as the ones my parents grew back inSD on our farm. So get local berries if you can as they are much sweeter and you have to use them pretty quickly. I think for one thing that in local berries the growers let them ripen a little longer before shipping them as they are close by to most ca cities and the Mexico ones are picked before they have had a chance to get really sweet.
1 person likes this
@boo756 (8)
•
22 Apr 08
I know exactly what you mean! Here the strawberries are big if you get them from other states, etc. and they don't taste very good at all. They seem to have nothing in them, even though I never eat strawbarries with sugar, only blackberries. Though my dad grows wild strawberries in his backyard and they taste great! They're so small but they are really, good, as long as the rabbits don't get to them! Haha. I love strawberries, and I never use sugar, I don't need them to be sweetened, I like them as they are. :)
