Enjoy Strawberries in Spring

This spring I was in Mahabaleshwar, 120 km from Pune and 250 km from Mumbai. It is a resort town, situated on a plateau. Every landscape here looks like a picture postcard. It’s popular with Mumbaiites because of the welcome change from the sticky Mumbai summer.

I’m recounting my trip to Mahabaleshwar mostly because I ate a whole lot of strawberries there. Strawberries are the fruit of this season. They are rich in antioxidants, folic acid, vitamins and minerals, low in calories, and widely available during spring.

Strawberries are perfect for curbing cardiovascular disease, cancer, and delaying aging. In fact, studies suggest that the high antioxidant levels in strawberries can help neutralise the negative effects of free radicals in the system. Antioxidants are also known to boost the immune system and help keep off diseases like the cold and flu.

Rich in potassium, a mineral that helps regulate electrolytes in the body, strawberries help lower the risk of heart attack and stroke. The folic acid they contain, augments the manufacture of red blood cells.

More and more farmers are growing strawberries every year and Mahabaleshwar  now contributes almost 85 per cent of India's total production.

The English had introduced strawberries to this sylvan western hill-town In the 1920s. Those days, it was a novelty in India, only consumed by the British ‘Sahibs’. The first variety of strawberry introduced was the Australian Strawberry, grown only in the kitchen gardens of the Sahibs. It was much later, around 1960, that farmers in Mahabaleshwar started growing the plant.

From the 1960s till 1992, this variety was grown in about 130 acres of land and could be afforded only by the affluent. However, in 1992, there was a strawberry revolution.

The Chandler variety of the plant was imported from California by an entrepreneur. This produced a much bigger and better tasting fruit. Around the same time, the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Sharad Pawar ordered 25,000 saplings of the plant from California and strawberry farming multiplying - from 600 acres during those days to 2,000 acres now in Mahabaleshwar alone.

Now, without going into too many details of strawberry production, let me share with you the best ways to eat this fruit.

1. Fresh strawberries that are really sweet can be simply washed and eaten straightaway. However, if the taste is a little on the sour side, then sprinkle some sugar over the fruit. Have it with whipped cream for a sweeter taste.

2. Strawberries can be sliced with grapes and bananas, and used as a filling in a jam sandwich or a roti roll.

3. Boil some strawberries with sugar to make strawberry sauce. Use this on chapattis, cakes and ice cream.

4. Melt some semi-sweet, dark chocolate on the stove. Dip whole fresh strawberries into it and refrigerate. You have a great treat ready for the kids!

5. Add fresh, sliced strawberries to your favourite desserts and pastries.

6. Slice strawberries into pancake batter and cook in a frying pan. Add whipped cream on top.

7. Make strawberry milkshake with vanilla ice cream and milk.

Happy eating!