Fraises Des Bois

Know this

You are not buying a shrunken version of the supermarket berry. Fraises des bois are Fragaria vesca, the woodland strawberry, a completely different species from the big octoploid hybrid in the clamshell. That is why a berry the size of your fingernail carries more perfume than a whole pound of the large ones. Buy them in the little wooden punnets, look for berries still wearing their pointed green crowns, matte rather than glossy, and check the bottom of the box: weeping or staining means the batch is already collapsing. The chef secret: do not rinse them and do not serve them cold. Water bruises them, and cold holds the aroma down in the fruit instead of letting it lift into your nose, and that aroma is the entire thing you paid for. Wipe them with a dry cloth if you have to, then let them sit out twenty minutes before they hit the plate.

Cook

Don't. The best treatment is no treatment. If you need to stretch a small punnet, macerate them lightly for twenty minutes with a little sugar and a squeeze of lemon and use the syrup. Heat is the enemy. One minute in a hot pan and the perfume is gone for good.

Season

May through August, with the everbearing alpine types running on into fall.

Best pairings

Crème fraîche · Vanilla · Black pepper · Aged balsamic · Lemon verbena · Mascarpone

Also worth trying: mint, elderflower, rose, pistachio, shortbread, rhubarb, basil, white chocolate, champagne.

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