6 rather remarkable facts about strawberries
Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: facts about strawberries.
Delicious! The Dutch strawberry season has begun again. Annually, about 60 million kilos of our beloved summer king are grown. Strawberries are sweet, fresh, and packed with vitamin C. But did you already know these six things about strawberries?
A strawberry is not a fruit
Not at all! What is? A false fruit. The seeds that a strawberry carries on the outside are actually the fruits. The strawberry itself is a swollen flower base. Although there are several false fruits, the strawberry is the only one that carries its seeds on the outside; on the average strawberry, there are often about 200.
The strawberry and the rose are family
Both strawberries and roses have a romantic touch. Except if you are allergic to strawberries; that annoying rash you get from them is at least as bothersome as a thorn prick... (We will tell you more about that allergy below.) So it’s actually not so strange that the strawberry and the rose are indeed family. True: they are botanically related; the strawberry plant belongs to the rose family and was used as an ornamental plant in the 14th century.
Strawberries make your teeth whiter
Throughout history, strawberries have been cosmetically used as nourishing face masks and as a natural stain remover for your teeth. Strawberries contain both citric acid and malic acid. These acids remove tooth stains. Does this mean you should now whiten your teeth with strawberry puree? Opinions are divided on that. It is and remains a natural product, and your teeth will not become truly white. Just eat them and enjoy.
The tip of the strawberry is the sweetest
Have you ever noticed that the first bite of a strawberry is the best? It’s not just in your head. When a strawberry hangs on the plant, the sugars sink down due to gravity. And that makes the tip the tastiest. Want to save the best for last? Eat a strawberry upside down. Want every bite to be just as delicious? Cut a strawberry in half lengthwise, so you get the tastiest piece in every bite.
Strawberries keep your memory sharp
You already knew that fruit is good for you, but did you know that strawberries are also very good for your brain? Strawberries contain a substance, fisetin, that stimulates signaling pathways in your brain and thereby improves your long-term memory.
Strawberriesallergy? Make something delicious out of it
The most annoying for last... That you first have to wash strawberries is (hopefully) obvious. But try it with warm instead of cold water. The little hairs on the strawberries become softer this way. And those same hairs are often the reason for an allergic reaction. (Although other people claim that in a strawberry allergy, the seeds of the strawberry are the culprit.) What can also help: heat your strawberries. Then you have an excuse to have breakfast with strawberry madeleines or a sandwich homemade strawberry jam. Or even better: inject them with tequila. Drunken strawberries with tequila are made in no time. Whether this will get rid of your irritation, I can't say for sure, but it's definitely tasty.
