Shuksan strawberries, the best berries on earth
Imagine the best berry you’ve ever tasted. Then magnify that experience by ten, and you’ll have an approximation of just how lovely these Shuksan strawberries really are.
This weekend, I had the opportunity to join a group of chefs and food writers for a outing to La Connor, where Jon Rowley led a talk on umami. For him, umami is not the coined-in-the-70s definition of MSG, or “fifth taste”, but the classical Japanese definition loosely translated as “beautiful taste”, or the highest potential a particular ingredient can reach. And for him, Shuksan strawberries, these craggly, ruffle-collared strawberries with a 3-week season, and a highly perishable 24 hour shelf-life, were it.
Each plump, soft berry is red to the core, with a slight minerality in the sweetness that makes them ever the more complex. These berries collapse on your tongue with a plush, velvety texture for an utterly sensual experience. Their full, round flavor expands in your mouth until it renders you speechless, until you’re left wondering: “If this is a strawberry, what have I been eating all my life?”
We picked flats of berries with one of the farmers, Chris, who had been up since 4am with the other strawberry pickers. They had hundreds of flats to pick and deliver by 6am. The berries are never picked the night before and left to sit overnight, oh no. These strawberries deteriorate at much too rapid a rate. Indeed, the some of the berries we tried to hold over at room temperature for 36 hours, so our friends could taste them, were garbage. (But, most were salvageable, and frozen for future pies. If we had tried to keep them just one more night, I have a feeling most of them would have been destined for the garbage bin.)
Farmer Chris
Hidden jewels
My gorgeous bounty
I wanted to thank Traca for putting together such an incredibly memorable expedition, and also Jon and Kate, two lovely people who took time out of their days to satisfy our curiosities. I am also deeply indebted to the Chris for opening up his uncle’s farm to us, and to the wonderful, food-loving group of people with whom I savored the ultimate strawberries.
Posted: June 21st, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Comments
Comment from lorna
Time June 25, 2009 at 8:13 AM
Jon told us that Hood’s and Shuksan’s are his two favorite berries. I remember buying strawberries from La Connor last summer, and they were indeed smaller and darker–I wonder if they were Hoods? They were delicious, and like the Shuksan’s, very perishable.
Comment from Benjamin Mount
Time June 25, 2009 at 7:16 PM
I have a small Shuksan strawberry farm in Ferndale Washington (about 4.5 Acres) and so far this has been an outstanding season. In 25 years of growing Shuksans i have never tasted another variety that even compares to these highly perishable Beauties !!
Comment from Ernest Telford
Time July 3, 2009 at 9:37 AM
I am trying to identify a variety that I planted two years ago. I have narrowed the variety down to a Shuksan or a Hood. Could you describe the foliage on the Shuksan and the Hood berry? The berry is large, about the size of the California berry. Thanks
Comment from lorna
Time July 3, 2009 at 9:42 AM
Hi Ernest,
Neither the Shuksans nor Hoods look like California berries (they are smaller in size), but I do recall Jon Rowley and the farmer saying that the Puget Reliance berries look very similar to California berries, which is why they sell so well at the market. The Pugets did not taste like the Shuksans or Hoods, though. Hope that helps!
Pingback from If You Want The Best Jam… « Cans Across America
Time July 22, 2009 at 11:56 AM
[...] Jon Rowley and six-degrees-of-Traca Savadago had led our group to the gleaming, paint-red berries as the representative of a certain kind of umami. For Jon, these [...]
Pingback from If You Want The Best Jam… – Canning Across America
Time September 14, 2009 at 7:43 PM
[...] Jon Rowley and six-degrees-of-Traca Savadago had led our group to the gleaming, paint-red berries as the representative of a certain kind of umami. For Jon, these [...]
Pingback from Art of the Pie · Pie Plant
Time May 29, 2010 at 9:21 PM
[...] rhubarb pie this afternoon, I couldn’t resist! The pie is “planted” in my Shuksan strawberry [...]
Pingback from Wright Eats » Blog Archive » Strawberry picking and a recipe for pickling
Time July 1, 2010 at 7:22 AM
[...] a Shuksan strawberry was last year, when our friend Lorna shared with us some of her harvest from her day of strawberry picking with Jon. These large glossy berries are a beautiful red color all the way through the [...]
Pingback from Wright Eats » Strawberry picking and a recipe for pickling
Time June 4, 2011 at 2:04 PM
[...] a Shuksan strawberry was last year, when our friend Lorna shared with us some of her harvest from her day of strawberry picking with Jon. These large glossy berries are a beautiful red color all the way through the [...]
Pingback from Fraisier « Pastry Runner
Time May 6, 2012 at 1:45 PM
[...] it was pretty darn delicious. Even more so because I took the opportunity to use up some of the Shuksan strawberries we picked last year in the middle. Since they were thawed from frozen, I bought fresh strawberries [...]
Comment from ts
Time June 24, 2009 at 9:00 PM
Well, these are getting so much press! Or blog and twitter time. I have been told (from an equally good source as Jon) that the Hood berries are equally as good, or better. Smaller, darker, and sweeter? But I don’t think you can try them side by side as they come on to the market at different times.