Monday, October 30, 2006

Fraises du Bois


I picked up these fraises du bois, or wild forest strawberries, from the Jaime Farms stand at the Hollywood Farmers' Market a few weeks ago. Smaller and more delicate than regular strawberries, the fraises have an intense strawberry perfume and sweetness. They originate in Europe, and in the 1400s were depicted extensively in religious art.

Whatever you do with these beauties, you want to make sure the berries are the star. I wouldn't hide them in fruit salad or drown them in syrup. I ate mine out of hand, and threw a few on a small spinach salad with a few pinenuts and a splash of balsamic.

6 comments:

Anita (Married... with dinner) said...

I have been on a quest to taste a fraise du bois for ...oh god, it must be going on 10 years, now. Even when I was in France, I never could get my hands on them.

I think I have just figured out what to do with my Sunday morning this weekend while I'm in L.A. it'll be fun to see the old 'hood, anyway :D

Carrie said...

I finally made that Asparagus, Pork, and Potato hash on Saturday. It was a big hit to everyone who ate it. I varied it a little, but it turned out great. Thanks for the tips!

Anonymous said...

a truly wonderful food find!

H. C. said...

I recently had a wild strawberry cake @ Magnolia (which I also blogged about) - it was definitely yummy, but the strawberry flavors were a bit muted by the other berries.

Also have a bottle of fraise du bois liqueur at home (great for champagne cocktails) & a fraidse du bois tea at work... yummy with sugar & milk. and yes, I do love my strawberries.

www.valencia-3d.com said...

I completely agree with the post.

Potenzkraft said...

strawberries are not just tasty and good looking but they also work well as an aphrodisiac.