SC - Fritters

[Tollhase1@aol.com]

IIRC, there are three species of European strawberries, the "frais du bois",
whose scientific name escapes me at the moment, the musky strawberry,
Fragaria moschata, and a green strawberry, of little import.  The wild wood
strawberry was apparently harvested from the wild until the 14th Century
when they began being transplanted into manor gardens.

In North America, the Europeans found Fragaria virginiana and later F.
chileonsis is South America.  During the 18th Century, a French botanist
named Duchesne crossed F. chileonsis and F. virginiana, producing the first
of the modern hybrids which are the common strawberry in U.S. supermarkets.

The frais du bois, the musky, and the American strawberry species have
different chromosome counts making cross-breeding difficult and poor yields.
The frais du bois is occasionally available in upscale markets at ridiculous
prices, but Ras has pointed out, if you are willing to grow your own, the
plants are available.

For most applications, I tend to use the commercial berries and not worry
about the differences.

Bear

> As well, while this friend is not an authenticity freak on 
> any level, we
> were discussing what foodstuffs could ruin the feel of a 
> feast - I said the
> bright red vegetables (capsicum, tomato), potato (although, 
> in a soup, it is
> at least a bit hidden), chocolate.  She agreed with this list 
> and added big,
> red strawberries because she had heard that strawberries as 
> we know them are
> more a New World food and that the ones people in Europe 
> would have been
> eating would have been the small wild strawberries.
> 
> Any opinions (particularly backed up with documentation!)?
> 
> Gwynydd
> 
> 
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