ingredient secrets

by erin thursby
It’s strawberry season here in Florida. This little berry has come a long way since it was mentioned as an ornamental in Roman gardens. But it didn’t really get its start until the 1300s when it began to be cultivated in Europe. By the 1500s it was popular in gardens and widely farmed in France.
There’s confusion as to where the name for strawberry comes from. Some experts say that the origins have to do with actual straw, because straw used to be placed in the strawberry beds. Others say that medieval children used to sell the berries strung on a straw rather than in a container that would cost them money. The gimmick made it easy to sell and increased profits. A less popular theory was that they were first called strewn berries because of the way they look on the bush.
Strawberries aren’t a true fruit. You can tell because the seeds are on the outside of the fruit rather than the inside. In reality a strawberry is an abnormally large end of a stamen.