Yoni Cohen advised us on how to choose the right fruits and vegetables. Now let's get into the kitchen, the fruit expert gives us some of his recommendations in terms of product selection: strawberries for dessert.
Above all, don't forget to buy your products as the days go by, and thus avoid storing them to guarantee their consumption in the best conditions (i.e. fully ripe and fresh). As a reminder, strawberries are fragile, so they deteriorate quickly as soon as they are picked.
Strawberry for dessert, a question of sweetness
To best preserve and rediscover the original taste of the products, “chefs seek to have as little sweetness as possible in their desserts”.
To achieve this result and choose the most appropriate strawberry for your choice of dessert, “it all depends on the weight of sugar that is used in the entire recipe. If you are preparing a fairly sweet dessert, like a tart for example (the dough or cream of which will already be quite loaded with sugar) turn to “gariguette” strawberries. They are not only all well sized (ideal for placing on a tart and forming a beautiful rosette of uniform strawberries), but also acidic.” If this characteristic seems negative, think again!
“The acidity of a strawberry is precisely what allows you to counterbalance and balance the sweet effect of a dessert, without adding too much.”
Conversely, if you are preparing a dessert that is not very sweet, or if you want a fruit that will enhance your dessert with its sweetness, the ciflorette strawberry will do the trick. This one is much sweeter than gariguette. »
Which strawberry to prepare a smoothie
To prepare, for example, a smoothie or detox juices based on strawberries, “use round strawberries (rather than elongated) those of the Charlotte, Clery, or Carpentras strawberries. These strawberries are much larger, not necessarily sized (which would not be of interest since you cut them up and mix them with other fruits), they are very red, sweet and above all, they are not necessarily very expensive. »
Note that these three varieties of strawberries last longer in the year, “until September, even October”, than ciflorette or gariguette, which are found more until May.
Which strawberry for a coulis
To prepare a red fruit coulis, use a gariguette strawberry. “It all depends on what you want to add to your grout! The coulis are often quite sweet, for my part, I would choose a gariguette which, with its acidity, balanced everything. »
“Prepare a little coulis with the slightly soft or bent strawberries”
Otherwise, if some strawberries seem more advanced than others in your tray, coulis them! Even if their appearance is not the most attractive, “they are still very good to taste”.
Which strawberry for a bowl of strawberries
For the classic bowl of strawberries with a little icing sugar or whipped cream, opt for the ciflorette (until May), otherwise, the charlotte (very red, juicy and larger than the others, with a regularity in the taste) or Mara des bois (a taste mix between charlotte and wild strawberry, and a sweet and pleasant note. Note that it is smaller and more aesthetic than Charlotte).
You don't know which one to choose? “Mixing these three varieties to prepare the same bowl of strawberries would be a very good idea! Of course, you will have difficulty distinguishing the taste of each one independently, but the whole will be delicious.”
