Everything to Know About Cooking and Shopping for In Season Strawberries

The best way to shop? With the seasons. So, every 2 weeks at Kitchen Stories, we’ll be highlighting a different in-season ingredient along with 3 new recipes. To market, we go!

We all love strawberries—and most of us don’t need to be told how to eat them. But as so often is the case, there’s more to discover beyond the surface.

For instance, you may already know that strawberries aren’t actually berries (or nuts...they’re aggregate accessory fruit!), but do you know why? What about how to pick the best ones from the market? Or the proper way to hull them?

Maybe you’re just interested in 3 new fantastic strawberry recipes to add to your arsenal, or want to learn new flavor pairings. We’ve got you covered there, too.

So, in the spirit of getting to know our favorite summer fruit better, here are 4 things you should know about strawberries:

1. Not-Your-Average Anatomy

So, why aren’t strawberries berries after all? It comes down to the seeds. Unlike berries, strawberries carry their seeds on the outside rather than within. In fact, each strawberry holds around 200 seeds on average!

Each of these seeds (or achene) is actually one of the ovaries of the fruit’s flower, holding a seed inside of it.

2. Selecting the Sweetest Berries

Strawberries continue to ripen off the vine—so the ones you see at the store may look red and juicy, but it could be the case that they’re totally lackluster. (Strawberries that sweeten on the vine are much fuller in flavor.)

The color can be deceiving as well, since different varieties of strawberries come in varying shades of red. And bigger isn’t always better—strawberries are often more concentrated in flavor when they’re tiny. And, as a general rule of thumb, the more fragrant the fruit is when you buy it, the better it will taste.

When you slice one open, be wary of strawberries that are mostly white inside—or worse, hollow. The more space there is inside for air to circulate, the faster the berries will grow moldy and rot. Those with less air space retain their flavor and color much better.

3. Hulling Strawberries, the Right Way

Don’t fall victim to the common strawberry pitfall—cutting away more of the strawberry than you need to in order to remove the cap. Take a look at our handy How To video below to see 2 ways to hull a strawberry effectively!

4. Sweet and Savory Strawberry Pairings

We so often limit ourselves to pairing strawberries with cream, meringue, cake, ice cream, or chocolate. But there is a whole world of possibility out there when it comes to strawberry flavor pairings. Try one of our suggestions below, and see for yourself!

5. What to Make Next

All week long, we’ll be featuring new strawberry recipes on Kitchen Stories. Check back to see what’s new, then try one for yourself! Here’s where to start: