In every person's life there comes a time when they've got almost 1,5 kilograms freshly picked wild strawberries (Fragaria vesca, see a gorgeous photo by a talented Estonian photographer here) at hand. I'm no different. It happened to me in 2006, in 2007, and again about a fortnight ago. K. and I spent just under 2 hours on our secret wild strawberry field, we barely covered a plot larger than a large kitchen, and we had a 3 litre jar of wild strawberries between us. What can you do??!
Well, one of the easiest things to do (and one of my favourite childhood memories) is following. I've given a 'recipe' below, but you really do not need one. It's healthy, summery, quick, and oh-so-very Estonian (unless you pick 'smultron' in Sweden, or 'ahomansikkoita' in Finland, or 'Walderdbeere' in Germany, or 'fraises des bois' in France, and so on, in which case this dessert would be very Swedish or Finnish or German or French, and so on, of course.)
PS It is especially nice when done with wild strawberries that you've picked yourself. But if that's tricky, then use the ones from a friendly market vendor instead..
Wild strawberries with milk or cream
(Metsmaasikad rõõsa koore või piimaga)
Serves 1
half a cup of wild strawberries
half a cup of single cream or whole milk
2 to 3 tsp sugar
Place the wild strawberries into a glass and sprinkle with sugar. Crush slightly with a wooden spoon.
Pour over milk or cream and eat with a small spoon, stirring as you go.
18 comments:
I love wild strawberries, and while I like them best the way they are, your dessert looks really delicious!
I like them for lunch with yogurt - a bit of sugar is nice....
I need to find a place to pick them.
Now, how many did you eat before filling your 3 litres????
This perfectly illustrates that simplicity is sublime.
I'm still waiting for that moment :-)
What can you do? You can invite us all over!! I have never had this particular problem, alas.
The rabbits eat most of our strawberries before we ever get to pick them! So it's off to the farmers' market if I'm to have enough to make this dessert.
Ooooh you're just trying to make us all jealous! (And succeeding I might add! Send those berries this way...)
This is perfect! I would eat this too as a child...just regular strawberries though, and not ones I was lucky enough to pick for myself! I love hearing about your foraging jaunts...something I dream of doing :) If I do that where I live all I'm likely to find would be an old shoe!
Oi kuidas tahaks sinna salamaasikakohta saada. Lucky you! :)
"In every person's life there comes a time when they've got almost 1,5 kilograms freshly picked wild strawberries."
Umm ... no. Not really. Only for those lucky enough to live somewhere with wild strawberries, I think. Or to visit when it's the right season, and to have time enough to go berry picking, I guess. ;)
Nice seeing you - wish we could have stayed longer, and gone out to some of the wild places, rather than staying in the city!
aaaargh!!!
that was mean. even though I´m munching on slices of excellent melon from more or less down the road, it´s still not fair. the idea of 3 litres of wild strawberries...
That's also what I do with the strawberries we get from our local market.They're grown here in cooler upcountry Waimea or Volcano. Right now the problem is what to do with excess pineapple, lychees, and mango.
Jam or wine or chutney...
I saw your flickr pictures about jam too. I'm crazy about wild strawberry jam and would like to see your recipe please?
ma jalutasin eile titte lohusalu kandis ja korjasin ka teise käega metsmaasikaid. ei jõund ära kiruda, et topsi kaasas polnud. aga et neid süüa sai, m´aksab ka midagi.
Wild strawberries are ideal to keep in deep fridge - simply pack them into freezing box with small amount of sugar. In winter they will be just like freshly piked - but you must eat them immediately after thawing, before the taste turns bitter.
When I was in Nice, someone was selling a case of fraises des bois, French wild strawberries, for 2€ a basket.
I am still kicking myself for not buying them. That's a lot of jam!
Wow - 3l of wild strawberries!! I was counting myself lucky picking just a handful in Chamonix earlier this summer. In fact, I am still pleased as punch that I can even recognise them in the wild ;-) Love the simplicity of this dessert - sometimes simple really is best.
Angelica - well, but one can only eat a limited number (say, half a litre?) of fresh wild strawberries at once :)
Katie - I like them with yogurt, too - and wild strawberry jam is nice with yogurt.
Susan - indeed:)
Alanna - well, just come over next summer!
Charlotte K - my 'MIL' is very protective about the secret wild strawberry field, so not sure I'd be allowed to invite lots of people over, you know :)
Lydia - how dare they!?!
Brilynn - I have no idea what you're talking about :) (PS They don't travel well, as they're rather fragile).
ChichaJo - the pudding would also work with ripe sweet regular berries.
Juc - no ei saa öelda, ei saa...
DaviMack - no?
lobstersquad - next summer, eh?
Claudia - glad to hear you've got access to wild strawberries. Re: pineapple, mango, lychees - well, I never get excess of them!
Lisa - I told about the jam last summer, but might do a pictorial again.
vernanda - siit moraal - alati haara tops kaasa, kui loodusesse lähed :)
Anon. - freezing berries is a good idea, but I am very scared they turn bitter ;(
David - 2 Euros a basket doesn't sound so bad at all!!
Jeanne - I saw your Chamonix pix - weren't they lovely?!
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