Green Strawberries
- The Rainbow Team
- May 17, 2015
- 2 min read
Seasons/Availability
Green strawberries are available year round.
Current Facts
All strawberries are members of the Rosaceae family. There are two types of green strawberries. There is a variety of strawberries native to Europe that are known as green strawberries, Fragaria viridis, which lack traditional strawberry aroma and do not actually turn color when ripe. And there are green strawberries, which are unripe strawberry varieties. Green strawberries became a culinary concept that evolved out of New Nordic cuisine.
Description/Taste
Green strawberries exhibit the youth of any given red strawberry variety that has been plucked before maturity. Thus their color is pale green with slight pink blushing and trademark seeds lining the skin in hues of green and red. The flavor of Green strawberries is lean and tart, displaying notes of refreshing acidity. Their flesh is also less juicy, slightly cottony and firm.
Applications
Green strawberries should not necessarily be used in place of ripe red strawberries, rather be considered for use as an acidic fruit replacement for other acidic fruits such as citrus and tomatoes. They can be used fresh or they can also be pickled, which is a favored application to manipulate the fruits' flavor and highlight its texture. Pickled Green strawberries are used in savory applications alongside mild, creamy and aged cheeses, sausages, flaky white fish and within fresh salads. Complimentary ingredients include pistachios, pine nuts, aged balsamic vinegar, salad greens such as butter lettuce and arugula, apples, fresh and dried figs, fennel, bacon and basil.
Geography/History
The history of strawberries traces itself to two Wild strawberries known as Fragaria vesca and Fragaria chiloensis. The two Wild strawberries were crossed which led to the cultivated strawberry. This was the most successful modern development of strawberries and it owes itself to a French spy, Amédée-François Frézier, who took strawberry cultivars from South America to France in 1714. Chance crossings created the cultivar known as the Fragaria x annassa, the large red species we know today as the common strawberry.
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