[Sca-cooks] Strawberries

[Terry Decker]

Commercial strawberries are bred primarily for durability in transit and 
shelf life and are picked on the unripe side, just like commercial tomatoes. 
And in many cases it's that early harvesting that reduces the flavor as you 
surmise.  Commercial strawberries are also completely out of period, being a 
hybrid (Fragaria ananassa) of F. virginiana and F. chilioensis by Antoine 
Nicholas Duchesne around 1764.  Neither of the original plants was 
introduced into Europe until the 17th Century.

The European strawberries that are period are F. vesca, the common wild 
strawberry having a number of species, F. viridis, noted for its green 
berries, and F. moschata, a small berry with a musky flavor.

The New World strawberries have 56 chromosomes, while F. moschata has 42 
chromosomes and F. vesca has only 14 chromosomes.  Hybrids between New World 
and Old World strawberries are difficult to produce and are not very 
productive.

Bear

Then again, I’ve wondered if the large, modern strawberries have given up 
taste for size, as well. Maybe length of travel, or picking fruits early for 
toughness in travel has a bigger impact.

Stefan