When I was a kid growing up here in Hawai‘i, we never ate fresh strawberries. Never
had them in the house. We had plenty of pineapple, mango, mountain apple, papaya,
banana, lychee and pomelo. But the only strawberries we were familiar with were
strawberry-flavored shave ice, ice cake or popsicles.
I don’t know why we were strawberry challenged way back then. If I were to
tally my current consumption of strawberries, however, you’d think I was making
up for lost time. Fortunately, going crazy for strawberries isn’t such a bad
thing.
Like other berries, strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C and manganese.
(Slightly more vitamin C, actually, than oranges.) Strawberries are also a good
source of dietary fiber, iodine, potassium and folate.
Currently, it’s strawberry season, which means they’re plentiful and
affordable. Restrain yourself and don’t stockpile them. Since strawberries
are very perishable, you’ll need to consume them within a day or two of purchase.
Here’s a tip: Strawberries don’t ripen further once they’re picked,
so choose unblemished, deep-red ones and bypass those with green or yellow patches.
Jam Session
In addition to strawberry-flavored shave ice and the like, my earliest recollection
of strawberries was small jars of jam sent from my maternal grandmother. Transplanted
to San Mateo, Calif., from Hilo, Grandma apparently sought to share the wealth of
berries that she enjoyed.
So it was those memories that recently sparked a desire to make strawberry jam.
The results weren’t the prettiest (how do you skim all the foam off the top?),
but the fresh-tasting, not-overly sweet jam was infinitely better than my favorite
store-bought brand.
The most difficult part of the endeavor was finding Mason (i.e., canning) jars.
In the past, when I made mango chutney, I would buy a case of 1-pint jars with lids
and rings for about $12 from Kilgo’s. Once upon a time, Safeway sold them,
too. Since Kilgo’s closed its doors a few years ago, I had to buy imported
Italian canning jars from a gourmet kitchen supply store for nearly $3 each.
Ouch.