Farmers Market Finds: Fraises des Bois
By Chuck Sudo in Food on Jul 12, 2010 3:20PM
Strawberry season is short here in this part of the Midwest; the last good pints were sold weeks ago. If you want a fix, the folks at Seedling Orchard aren't growing just mere strawberries right now.
Fraises des bois (pronounced, "frehz di-bwa"), or "strawberries from the woods," are small normally found in the wild and noted for their intense flavor. Seriously, these little gems are like strawberry flavor bombs. A couple weeks back at Green City Market, I bought the last two half-pints of Seedling Orchards' frasies des bois stock and promptly made a jam out of it that I've been spreading on toast and adding to blended cocktails. I was mildly surprised last week when I found at least four times as many for sale from Seedling. Seedling's Peter Klein told me the fraises des bois on his farm is growing faster than he and his crew can pick them and don't show signs of letting up anytime soon. Klein has been using them in the smoothies Seedling makes at GCM, but you could also use them in pies, the aforementioned jams or preserves, or dry and freeze them for later use.
A half-pint of fraises des bois will set you back $4, but that's a steal considering the flavor of these berries.