The french created strawberries

Strawberries and cream, such a British institution, however the strawberry was developed in France. They were originally created by the introduction of large white strawberries brought back in the 18th century by a military naval engineer from South America. They were given to Louis XIV’s gardener, but they lacked flavour so were of no real interest to the royal courts. So he sent them to a farm in Brittany who started to crossbreed them with wild woodland berries. A centre of production grew around the small town of Plougastel just near Brest, which is still operating today.

It is now purported that the best strawberries are ‘Gariguettes’ produced in southern France. The Ciflorette, another strawberry type, follow the season of the Gariguettes which run from March to June. Although, generally you pay more in France for strawberries I can vouch for the fact that they seem sweeter and have an intense strawberry fragrance.

Tarte aux fraises