Who Invented Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Putting Chocolate and Strawberry Together – While both chocolate and strawberries have been around for a while, it wasn’t until the 1960s that the idea to combine them was born. A woman working at a gourmet store in Chicago, Lorraine Lorusso of the Stop ‘N’ Shop, is said to be the inventor of this delicious treat.

What is the history of chocolate covered strawberries?

Juicy fresh strawberries coated in a deliciously rich, smooth and silky chocolate coating. Perfect for a special occasion! It was in the 1960’s that a lady named Lorraine Lorusso, had an idea. She worked in a small gourmet store in Chicago, called the Stop n’ Shop. One day, she dipped some fresh strawberries in chocolate, allowed them to harden and sold them to customers. They were an instant success and started a craze.

What culture is chocolate covered strawberries?

Chocolate-covered strawberries came out of Chicago – MadebyElizabeth/Shutterstock It’s 1960s Chicago, and somewhere in the bustling city, lies a little gourmet shop, and no one realizes that within its kitchen, candy history is being made using nothing but chocolate and strawberries. According to Chocolate, the story that goes a woman by the name of Lorraine Lorusso ran a small gourmet candy shop called the “Stop N’ Shop” in Chicago sometime in the 1960s.

• Lorusso, perhaps in a mood to make a new product, decided to temper some of the gourmet chocolate she sold in her shop and dipped some fresh strawberries into the chocolate.
• After allowing the chocolate to harden and form a shell around the berries, Lorusso then displayed the strawberries for her customers.

Perhaps this was the cause of the success and rise of the chocolate-covered strawberries, Oddly enough, despite being the inventor of one of the most famous chocolate treats in the world, very little information can be found regarding Lorraine Lorusso or her “Stop N’ Shop” gourmet store.

What is a interesting fact about chocolate covered strawberries?

STRAWBERRIES: THE FOOD OF LOVE AND ROMANCE Photo: kahvikisu Valentine’s Day brings a sea of bright pink and red decorations, love-themed teddy bears and heart-shaped chocolate. But why are strawberries so often linked with romance? There’s plenty about strawberries that make them enticing, but let’s face it – they even look like little bright red hearts.

Next to chocolate, strawberries are one of the most widely known aphrodisiacs. In fact, chocolate-covered strawberries were originally paired together because they’re two of the world’s most famous aphrodisiacs. Today chocolate-covered strawberries are a common Valentine’s Day treat, and are often found on buffet tables at weddings.

The history of the strawberry dates back to Ancient Rome where the fruit was considered the symbol of Venus, the goddess of love, because of its bright red color and enticing taste. Later, the berry became a symbol of fertility due to its many exterior seeds.

• The fruit looks so alluring in fact, that strawberries were carved into church altars and cathedral pillars in medieval times to represent perfection.
• Legend has it that when two people split a strawberry, they’ll fall in love.
• Whether or not strawberries are truly the aphrodisiac they’re said to be, there’s no denying their appeal on the plate.

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What is the origin story of strawberries?

History – Fragaria × ananassa ‘Gariguette,’ a cultivar grown in southern France The first garden strawberry was grown in Brittany, France, during the late 18th century. Prior to this, wild strawberries and cultivated selections from wild strawberry species were the common source of the fruit.

The strawberry fruit was mentioned in ancient Roman literature in reference to its medicinal use. The French began taking the strawberry from the forest to their gardens for harvest in the 14th century. Charles V, France’s king from 1364 to 1380, had 1,200 strawberry plants in his royal garden. In the early 15th century western European monks were using the wild strawberry in their illuminated manuscripts.

The strawberry is found in Italian, Flemish, and German art, and in English miniatures. The entire strawberry plant was used to treat depressive illnesses. By the 16th century, references of cultivation of the strawberry became more common. People began using it for its supposed medicinal properties and botanists began naming the different species.

1. In England the demand for regular strawberry farming had increased by the mid-16th century.
2. The combination of strawberries and cream was created by Thomas Wolsey in the court of King Henry VIII,
3. Instructions for growing and harvesting strawberries showed up in writing in 1578.
4. By the end of the 16th century three European species had been cited: F.

vesca, F. moschata, and F. viridis, The garden strawberry was transplanted from the forests and then the plants would be propagated asexually by cutting off the runners. Two subspecies of F. vesca were identified: F. sylvestris alba and F. sylvestris semperflorens,

The introduction of F. virginiana from eastern North America to Europe in the 17th century is an important part of history because it is one of the two species that gave rise to the modern strawberry. The new species gradually spread through the continent and did not become completely appreciated until the end of the 18th century.

A French excursion journeyed to Chile in 1712, which led to the introduction of a strawberry plant with female flowers that resulted in the common strawberry. The Mapuche and Huilliche Indians of Chile cultivated the female strawberry species until 1551, when the Spanish came to conquer the land.

In 1765, a European explorer recorded the cultivation of F. chiloensis, the Chilean strawberry. At first introduction to Europe, the plants grew vigorously, but produced no fruit. French gardeners in Brest and Cherbourg around the mid-18th century first noticed that when F. moschata and F. virginiana were planted in between rows of F.

chiloensis, the Chilean strawberry would bear abundant and unusually large fruits. Soon after, Antoine Nicolas Duchesne began to study the breeding of strawberries and made several discoveries crucial to the science of plant breeding, such as the sexual reproduction of the strawberry which he published in 1766.

Duchesne discovered that the female F. chiloensis plants could only be pollinated by male F. moschata or F. virginiana plants. This is when the Europeans became aware that plants had the ability to produce male-only or female-only flowers. Duchesne determined F. ananassa to be a hybrid of F. chiloensis and F.

virginiana,F. ananassa, which produces large fruits, is so named because it resembles the pineapple in smell, taste and berry shape. In England, many varieties of F. ananassa were produced, and they form the basis of modern varieties of strawberries currently cultivated and consumed.

What does chocolate strawberry symbolize?

The Perfect Valentine Treat: Double Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries By Patti Cook, BA, MS, Ed.D., Culinary Grad and B & P Student In the past couple weeks, people who know that I’m a health-conscious chef and recently started in the have been asking me for healthy Valentine treat ideas.

1. Last week, I shared my love of,
2. My other top suggestion is chocolate-dipped strawberries.
3. They pack a double aphrodisiac love story in one juicy sweet bite.
4. They also match : we want our sweets, but want them healthier too.
5. Strawberries’ heart shape, red color and sweetness make them the perfect symbol of love.

Legend says that if you break a double strawberry in half and share it, you will fall in love. Strawberries were even so sacred that they were used to symbolize Venus, the goddess of love. And dipping the symbol of love into chocolate makes it all so much sweeter.

Chocolate also has a long history of encouraging romance and enhancing health. From my kitchen seat, celebrating Valentine’s Day and juicy love stories are good things. Eating healthier doesn’t mean you go without sweets on Valentine’s Day or any day. It does mean finding ways to increase good-for-you ingredients like strawberries that are low in fat and calories as well as high in fiber, antioxidants and vitamin C.

And, most important—especially on Valentine’s Day—making it for someone you love. Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries Tips to make perfect chocolate-dipped strawberries:

• The most important thing is to use quality chocolate chips. In my experience, Ghirardelli is definitely the best and they’re relatively easy to find in the baking aisle with other chocolate chips in large well-stocked grocery stores and natural-foods markets.
• Melting the chocolate in batches assures it won’t cool off too much (because then it is difficult to dip the berries).
• The best type of bowl to melt the chocolate in is a medium glass ramekin because it’s easy to dip the strawberries into. It’s impossible to dip the strawberries in a bowl with a wide bottom because the chocolate spreads out.
• Letting excess chocolate drip off and scraping the bottom gives you nicer-looking coated berries.

• Ingredients : Strawberries
• Chocolate chips
• Directions :

1. Line a large baking sheet, cutting board or platter with parchment or wax paper. You need enough space to lay out all the chocolate-coated berries.
2. Put ½ cup chocolate chips in a small microwave-safe bowl.
3. Microwave on medium for 1 minute. Stir chips around with a fork. Continue to microwave the chocolate in 30-second intervals, stirring each time, until almost completely melted. Then stir until smooth.
4. Dip half of each strawberry into the chocolate—let excess drip off back into the bowl and then scrape the berry against the edge of the bowl to remove excess chocolate from the bottom. Place on parchment paper.
5. When almost all the chocolate is gone, if you have more strawberries you want to dip add another ½ cup chocolate chips to the bowl and repeat the process. Continue making batches with ½ cup melted chocolate until all your strawberries are coated.
6. Let the strawberries sit at room temperature until the chocolate is completely set. They can sit at room temperature until you’re ready to serve them or store, covered, in the refrigerator.

If you are interested in our, contact us for more information: 877-452-5489 or : The Perfect Valentine Treat: Double Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

What culture eats the most chocolate?

Which Country Eats the Most Chocolate in the World ? – Switzerland is the country that is responsible for the most amount of chocolate consumed per capita. Even though there are certainly countries across the globe that consume more total chocolate than Switzerland, Switzerland consumes the most chocolate per person.

1. In Switzerland, the average person consumes approximately 8.8 kg of chocolate every year, which is approximately 22 lb.
2. Switzerland has developed a powerful reputation across the world for its exceptional chocolate industry.
3. For example, Toblerone, which is a Swiss company, is one of the most recognizable chocolate companies in the world.

Given the long lineage of popular chocolate companies in Switzerland, it should come as no surprise that Switzerland consumes a tremendous amount of chocolate.

Is chocolate covered strawberries healthy?

Healthy Living Are chocolate covered strawberries healthy? February 14, 2018 By Filed Under: Healthy Living Chocolate is the number one food gift for Valentine’s Day. On it’s own, chocolate has some health benefits – if we don’t overindulge. But what about chocolate covered strawberries? The answer is YES! Chocolate and strawberries contain antioxidants which are linked to improved risk of infection and cancer and thought to improve our bodies’ immune function.

What did strawberries symbolize?

Strawberries and Love –

Strawberries are a symbol of purity and sensuality, fertility and abundance, humility and modesty. The strawberry’s fruit is made the symbol of perfect goodness because of its delicious flavor and fragrance.

In Roman times, it was the fruit associated with the goddess Venus and Ancient Romans often made offerings of the fruit at her temples.

Entire strawberry plants were used to treat depression and melancholy. No wonder they make us so happy when we eat them!

In France, newlywed couples are, by tradition, served soup made from thinned sour cream, powdered sugar, and strawberries for breakfast as soon as they emerge from their bridal chamber.

There is also a legend that if someone eats half of a strawberry and feeds the other half to someone else of the opposite sex, these two people would fall in love with each other in no time.

Strawberries have been associated with goodness and purity in Christian history. The strawberry was once believed to be a holy symbol of the Virgin Mary.

What is the myth of the strawberry?

Something about the combination of strawberries and cream seems quintessentially English. Think slightly rainy picnics and Pimm’s. Perhaps this association is because the combo has been a staple of Wimbledon since its first tournament in 1877, In fact, this summertime treat can be traced as far back as the early sixteenth century, with Thomas Wolsey (or, rather, his cooks) first serving it to Henry VII at a banquet at Hampton Court palace.

But this gloss of “Englishness”, as opposed to the exotic pineapple, has perhaps meant that the colonial history of the strawberry has previously gone unquestioned. The strawberries the Tudor court ate and those for sale nowadays on supermarket shelves are entirely different varieties. However, the variety of the fruit we know today as the strawberry results from a long history of crossbreeding varieties of strawberries extracted from across the length of the Americas.

The history of the strawberry is thus a history of empire involving war, slavery, espionage, and the extractive colonial history of botany. In particular, the taste of the “modern” strawberry would not exist without the French, British, and Spanish Empires.

There have always been varieties of strawberries in Europe, but you might have never eaten them. In particular, three varieties ( Fragaria vesca, Fragaria moschata, and Fragaria viridis ) are known as wild or woodland strawberries. Archaeological evidence shows that humans have eaten these varieties since the Neolithic period.

Later, in Ancient Rome, strawberries were often consumed during festivities celebrated in honour of Adonis, the mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite, as according to myth, strawberries grew when Aphrodite’s tears mixed with the blood of the dead Adonis and dropped into the dirt.

• Throughout medieval and early modern Europe, the woodland strawberry was also symbolically important.
• In the medieval period, strawberries were sometimes used as symbols in illuminated manuscripts with the three-part leaf as a reminder of the Holy Trinity.
• The red fruits, pointing downward, were representative of drops of Christ’s blood, and the five petals of its white flower were symbols of his five wounds.

Symbolic strawberries also appear throughout Shakespeare’s corpus – often invoked as a symbol of virginity. The fruit was a favourite of royals: Charles V, King of France from 1364 to 1380, grew 1,200 strawberry plants in his royal garden. Henry VIII’s infamous leg ulcer was at one point treated with ‘water of strawberries’, suggesting the fruit had medical uses too. Strawberries in the border of an image of ‘The Last Supper’, So-called Hours of Philip the Fair (c.1495), f.96v, BL Add MS 17280, Wikimedia Commons The Fragaria viginiana variety of strawberries grows across North America. For many Indigenous tribes across the region, they are a sacred fruit.

1. According to the Cherokee, the strawberry was used by the Creator to unite the First Man and the First Woman,
2. The Oneida, as with Henry VIII’s doctors, use strawberry water for medicinal purposes,
3. For many tribes, June is celebrated as the “Strawberry Moon”, as it marks when strawberries begin to ripen.

Fragaria virginiana was “discovered” by both the French and English when their empires invaded Turtle Island (the term for North America used by many northeastern Indigenous groups) in the sixteenth century. These North American strawberries were particularly small and sweet.

Thomas Jefferson, remarking on strawberries ( likely harvested by enslaved people ) at his family’s plantation of Shadwell, Virginia, described how ‘ 100 fill half a pint ‘. It appears the French colonisers “claimed” the strawberry first. In 1534, Jacques Cartier, the first European to travel inland in Turtle Island, described ‘vast patches of strawberries along the great river and in the woods’.

Records suggest that these North American strawberries began to appear in France in the early 1600s. The first catalogued mention is from 1601, in the garden of Jean Robin in Paris, although there is no clear evidence of who brought these specimens to France.

• The British Empire also “discovered” strawberries in the Americas a little later than the French.
• Several of the settler-colonists of the first English colonies write about strawberries.
• For example, Thomas Hariot, the scientific advisor to the infamous colony of Roanoke Island, wrote of this new variety of strawberry: ‘they are as great as those we have in English gardens’ (1588).

A few years earlier, he had sent seeds back to England, but the resulting plants had struggled to thrive. Similarly, George Percy wrote about the berry when discussing the founding of Jamestown in 1607. In 1643, Roger Williams, the founder of the Rhode Island colony, describes how the Indigenous made strawberry bread but that ‘the English have exceeded and make good wine’.

In 1672, Robert Morison, a botanist at the University of Oxford, produced a clone of Fragaria virginiana that grew better in the English climate. After completing his doctorate in western France, Morison studied in Paris with Vespasien Robin – who himself was responsible for an early (1624) record of Fragaria virginiana,

As with Fragaria viginiana, the Chilean variety of the strawberry, Fragaria chiloensis, is much larger than the varieties discussed above, although perhaps less sweet. Descriptions appear throughout the accounts of the invasion of Wallmapu (the ancestral territory of the Indigenous Mapuche). Indigenous peoples of Chile before Pedro de Valdivia’s invasion (1541), Wikimedia Commons, The Chilean variety of the fruit was also a key crop for Indigenous peoples across Wallmapu. Fragaria chiloensis was likely cultivated by both the Mapuche and the Huiliche people, as their language, Mapudungun, has specific words for both wild strawberries ( llahuen, lahuene, or lahueni ) and cultivated strawberries ( quellghen ).

1. But at the beginning of the Spanish invasion of Wallmapu, in 1542, the first Spanish coloniser of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia coined a new word the describe the New World’s “new” fruit.
2. While in European Spanish the word for strawberry was and is fresa, Valdivia referred to the Chilean strawberry as a frutilla (Spanish for little fruit).

This word stuck and remains the term used for strawberry across much of South America. As with Fragaria virginiana, descriptions of Fragaria chiloensis compare it favourably to European varieties. Jesuit priest and chronicler of the Arauco War, Alonso de Ovalle, writes that ‘hey are very different from those that I have seen here in Rome, in terms of the flavour as with the smell and in terms of quantity, because they grow as large as pears, although they ordinarily are red, there are also, in Concepción, white and yellow ones.’ One of the most troubling parts of the history of the strawberry is its rhetorical use to justify enslaving Indigenous peoples by highlighting the fertility of their land.

Following a 1598 rebellion by the Mapuche and Huilliche people, the invading Spanish suffered a series of significant losses, which the latter termed The Destruction of the Seven Cities (1599 – 1604). Soldiers in Chile were forced to rethink their military strategy. In 1607, soldier Alonso González de Nájera (? – 1614) was sent to Spain by the Governor of the Captaincy General of Chile to advocate for new strategies and reinforcements from King Philip III.

In his 1614 account of the war, essentially an extended argument for the enslavement of the Mapuche, Nájera dedicates a significant number of words to describing the virtues of the Chilean strawberry. These detailed descriptions of the incredible taste, smell, and appearance of the strawberry may have been part of a larger argument made by Nájera to convince King Philip III that the conquest of Chile was still worth supporting because of the fertility of the territory.

1. However, his pleas were ignored in favour of a strategy that did not centre slavery.
2. A century later, in the story of the strawberry, the French Empire returns to the scene.
3. In 1712, a spy named Amédée-François Frèzier (whose surname, coincidentally, is derived from fraise, French for strawberry) was set by King Louis XIV to study the defences of the Spanish colonies in South America.

Although a lieutenant colonel of Army Intelligence, he pretended to be a merchant or trader to spy on Spanish fortifications. But Frèzier recorded more than just defences. He also wrote extensively about Indigenous customs and botany, including the strawberry. An illustration of Fragaria chiloensis from an account of Frèzier’s journey. Public domain. However, botanists soon realised that Fragaria chiloensis could be crossed with Fragaria muschata or Fragaria vesca (varieties of woodland strawberry). The most significant crossbreeding came in 1765, when French botanist Antoine-Nicolas Duchesne successfully crossed Fragaria chiloensis and Fragaria virginiana,

1. This cross was named Fragaria x ananassa after another fruit from the New World – the pineapple – apparently due to the flavour.
2. Having now combined the size of the Chilean variety and the sweetness of the Norther American, Fragaria x ananassa quickly became the favourite variety across Europe and remains so to this present day.

So, when you bite into a strawberry and complement its sweetness or size, you are making the same observations as centuries of soldiers, spies, and scientists from across three empires. The strawberry, as a fruit and a symbol, is a tangible reminder of how even the most mundane – or apparently British – aspects of everyday life have been shaped by colonialism.

What does it mean when a girl sends you a strawberry?

What Does 🍓 Strawberry Emoji Mean? December 13, 2018 The strawberry emoji is a rich red, single strawberry with a vibrant green top. It’s used in posts relating to food and strawberry-related products and in posts that are sweet and wholesome. EmojiTerra Strawberries have historically symbolized things like purity and passion. Medieval masons and builders often marked stones and columns with strawberry designs to symbolize perfection and righteousness. Somewhere along the line, the fruit became a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, due to its faint heart-shape and red color. Emojipedia fruits 🍌 are 🍊 good 🍎 for 🍓 you @Magoichii, November, 2018 i will always love u kub 🍓♡☁️. @naeunmsnx, December, 2018 Three words: Eat more berries! 🍓🍒 @FastCompany, November, 2018 The strawberry emoji is used in social-media posts relating to food and drink and to anything related to strawberries: lip gloss, a pajama print, or even vaping. The little fruit emoji is also used in posts between girlfriends and sisters and in sentiments that are cute, sweet, and innocent. Paired with other emoji like red roses and champagne, it signifies romance and can also mean girlish fun (spa day, anyone?) and indulgence. It’s also popular in spring and summer, especially around July 4th when strawberry shortcake is on everyone’s menu. On Snapchat, the strawberry is reportedly used as a relationship status to mean, “can’t find Mr. or Ms. Right.” Chef Noel will be giving you some useful baking tips, every Tuesday 8-9pm on 🥕🥐🍆🍓🍰🍪 — Poppy’s Cupcakes (@poppyscupcakes) So extra but I love it. ❣️🍓🌹 — Lauryn Carpenter (@lauryn_carp) Crazy for Strawberry Cupcake with velvety buttercream frosting 💋💨🍓🍰👅 — Skull Tonic (@TonicSkull) This was much needed. 🌿🍓🥂 — 𝐍°𝟓. ☕️ (@YSLATTESS) *̣̩⋆̩*♡o｡dance the night away｡o♡🌸🍓🍰ฅ^>ω<^ฅ٭.•*❀ — 졸리는🐰 (@ellepyonpyon) 4th of July strawberries🍓🎆🎉 — Emma (@elorbzz) And goodnight! This is not meant to be a formal definition of 🍓 Strawberry emoji like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of 🍓 Strawberry emoji that will help our users expand their word mastery. : What Does 🍓 Strawberry Emoji Mean?

Why are strawberries romantic?

September 2021 There’s a lot about strawberries that make them perfect for Valentine’s Day, let’s face it – they even look like little red hearts. But did you know that, next to chocolate, strawberries are one of the most loved aphrodisiacs? In fact, that’s why the pairing was first created.

1. And that’s why we think they’re the perfect Valentine’s Day gift or treat.
2. There’s also a lot more romantic history to strawberries than meets the eye.
3. Our favourite red berry dates back to Ancient Rome where it was considered the symbol of Venus, the goddess of love, because of its bright red colour and intoxicating taste.

Legend has it that when two people split a strawberry, they’ll fall in love. How does cold strawberry soup sound? In the French countryside, there was once a tradition of serving this to newlyweds as an aphrodisiac on their honeymoon. While cold strawberry soup sounds ‘interesting’ we think we’ll stick with the magic pairing of chocolate and strawberries.

What does strawberry mean in Christianity?

Strawberry symbolism in Christian art, literature, and culture throughout history. – Strawberries represent symbols of virtue, purity, and perfection throughout Christian art, literature, and culture. In medieval Christian paintings, the strawberry symbolizes the Virgin Mary with its perfect shape and red color.

1. Similarly, in literature such as John Bunyan’s “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” the character Christiana compares her love for Christ to the sweetness of a strawberry.
2. Likewise, strawberries have been associated with love and purity in religious traditions throughout history.
3. Some believe that in Song of Solomon 2:1-3, the strawberry is referenced because it symbolizes the sweetness of romantic love.

The fruit has also been used to symbolize virtues such as righteousness in various Christian art and literature.

What is the history of strawberries and cream?

Strawberries and cream – the story. The wild strawberry goes all the way back to the Roman times. It was a symbol of the goddess Venus (goddess of love) and was prized for its medicinal uses. It was believed that the berries essentially made you happy and cleansed you blood, liver and spleen.

The first cultivated garden strawberry as we know it now, was grown in Brittany, France in the late 18th Century. Prior to this, it would have been the wild fruit or a cultivated version of the wild berry. The winning combination of strawberries and cream was introduced by Thomas Wolsey, a right hand man to King Henry VIII.

It is believed that he served this dish at a lavish banquet in 1509. It was then served to spectators of tennis matches (at a court in Thomas’ palace) and the perfect snack was born! The first Championships (in 1877), where 200 spectators attended also saw strawberries and cream served.

Currently, on average 10,000 litres of cream and 28,000 kg of strawberries are eaten at the tournament each year. To ensure the utmost freshness, the Grade 1 strawberries from LEAF-registered farms in Kent, are picked the day before and arrive at Wimbledon at 5.30a.m prior to being inspected and hulled.

Sure – strawberries and cream is a classic! It’s simple, delicious and is all about the berry! However, the strawberry season is relatively short and they go off quickly, even in the fridge. Therefore, we figured that the more ways we can think of of using them up, the better! One of the best ways of preserving them is turning them into jam (check out our ). : Strawberries and cream – the story.

What Colour were strawberries originally?

Did you know the original strawberry is white? “Tastes like strawberries, on a summer evening,” sings the Century’s eminent heartthrob Harry Styles in his produce-inspired hit song Watermelon Sugar, “I want more berries,” he chants, then proceeds to devour slice after slice of watermelon.

Clearly, Mr Styles has a penchant for deep-red fruits. Or does he? Styles, like most, would perhaps be aghast to learn that strawberries are due to some strict definitions. But watermelons are, so it seems he still got his wish. And before you get bogged down on that one, here’s another fact: strawberries were once white (and some were even yellow).

Boom! ‘How now?’ you ask. It involves wild plants in southern Chile, a long boat ride to Brittany, and a French garden. “The modern strawberry emerged in Brest, France, in 1766,” Cecilia Céspedes tells SBS Food. She works as an agroecological researcher for the Chilean government agency INIA.

1. While France is where the strawberry was cultivated, it’s not where it originated.
2. It was a cross of fragaria virginiana from the United States with fragaria chiloensis, which is why it’s known as ‘F.
3. Chiloensis x F.
4. Virginiana’,” Céspedes explains.
5. It was this latter variety from South America that really shakes things up, since it was white.

The Spaniards, in their exploration and conquest of Chile, wrote extensively of this incredible fruit they saw cultivating abundantly. They commented on its intense aroma, large size, and off-white hue, and considered it to be far superior to the strawberry variety they had back home.

• They were so captivated that one Frenchman decided to take five of the white fruits with him back to Europe — no easy task given the length of such a journey.
• “He gave two to the captain of the boat in exchange for the freshwater needed to water the strawberries, one to a minister and one to a professor to plant in France and the final one he left in the port of Brest,” Céspedes says.
• It was there that Chile’s white strawberry would be cross-cultivated with the North American variety to form the strawberry we know today, consumed and venerated world-over — not just by British pop stars.

COOK UP STRAWBERRIES WITH ADAM LIAW While it makes for a great story, the odyssey of those five strawberries in 1714 inadvertently led to the demise of the white strawberry in Chile, as the red type was commercialised. Before this, the white ones were eaten widely by the Indigenous Mapuche people long before the arrival of Europeans and are today considered a strong symbol of culture and heritage.

1. They also taste better.
2. The fruit of fragaria chiloensis stands out for its great sweetness and aroma compared to the commercial strawberry,” Céspedes says.
3. Even though one would be very hard pressed to find them on the shelf of a Chilean supermarket, Indigenous groups, particularly from the Nahuelbuta territory in the south, work to keep their precious strawberries growing.

The local municipality of Contulmo puts on a White Strawberry Festival every year to promote white strawberry cultivation, consumption and culture. Céspedes authored a report titled Rescue and valuation of the white strawberry with support from the Chilean government to raise awareness of its scarcity.

For the growers, farming these strawberries is a labour of love. “Despite low yields owing to climate change, exploitation of the lands and water shortages, farmers continue their cultivation”, she explains. Although a kilo of red strawberries sells for $1.90, their white predecessors go for upwards of $45.

Despite this, there’s hope that Chile’s love for berries will help create a boutique market for the endemic Chilean fruit. “In Chile, you can find strawberries in all sorts of food and drinks,” explains Daniela Prado Frugone, a Chilean masseuse who has lived in Australia for seven years.

” many strawberry desserts we enjoy in Chile, like strawberry kuchen (cakes introduced to Chile by German migrants), marmalades, cheesecakes and bavarois.” “Being originally from central Chile and having lived in different countries, I must say Chilean strawberries are the best in the world.” Traditional white strawberry recipes also continue to be popular.

“The farmers in Nahuelbuta prepare strawberries with toasted corn flour as well as strawberry juices,” says Céspedes. The popular ‘borgoña’, a strawberry-infused wine cocktail, has become a national drink and is commonplace during celebrations on Chile’s national day.

1. The land lends itself to bountiful production of the fruit, helping make it a popular snack and addition to dishes.
2. With an insatiable appetite, optimal growing conditions and a strong list of strawberry dishes, the scope for popularising the white strawberry again is promising.
3. Perhaps even Harry Styles would be happy to lend a hand.

BERRY TASTY RECIPES : Did you know the original strawberry is white?

What is the history of chocolate covered cherries?

History of National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day – Chocolate covered cherries were introduced to the world by Cella’s Confections in New York in 1929 and were an immediate hit, quickly becoming famous the world over. Years later, in 1985, Cella’s Confections was bought from the Masarik Family by Tootsie Roll, though the family is still part owners of the product.

What is the history of choc?

History of chocolate – The cacao tree was cultivated more than 3,000 years ago by the Maya, Toltec, and Aztec peoples, who prepared a beverage from its fruit, the cocoa bean (sometimes using it as a ceremonial drink) and also used the bean as a currency. Britannica Quiz Ultimate Foodie Quiz Spain was the earliest European country to incorporate chocolate into its cuisine, but exactly how that happened is vague. It is known that Christopher Columbus took cocoa beans to Spain after his fourth voyage in 1502, though little was made of it at that time.

1. It has been commonly thought (though there appears to be no evidence) that in 1519 Montezuma II, the Aztec ruler of Mexico, served a bitter cocoa-bean drink to the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, who subsequently introduced the drink to Spain.
2. A strong possibility is that chocolate first arrived in Spain in 1544 with representatives of the Kekchí Mayan people of Guatemala, who came bearing gifts (including chocolate) to visit the court of Prince Philip,

However, it was not until 1585 that the first recorded shipment of cocoa beans arrived in Spain from Veracruz, Mexico, Sweetened and flavoured with cinnamon and vanilla, chocolate was served as a hot beverage and became quite popular in the Spanish court.

• It was many years before chocolate had its introduction to France, England, and beyond.
• In 1657 a Frenchman opened a shop in London at which solid chocolate for making the beverage could be purchased at 10 to 15 shillings per pound.
• At that price only the wealthy could afford to drink it, and there appeared in London, Amsterdam, and other European capitals fashionable chocolate houses, some of which later developed into famous private clubs.

In London many chocolate houses were used as political party meeting places as well as high-stakes gambling spots, notably Cocoa-Tree Chocolate-House (later the Cocoa-Tree Club), which opened in 1698, and White’s, which was opened by Francis White in 1693 as White’s Chocolate-House.

About 1700 the English improved chocolate by the addition of milk, The reduction of the cost of the beverage was hampered in Great Britain by the imposition of high import duties on the raw cocoa bean, and it was not until the mid-19th century, when the duty was lowered to a uniform rate of one penny per pound, that chocolate became popular.

Meanwhile, the making of chocolate spread overseas and grew in sophistication. Chocolate manufacture started in the American colonies in 1765 at Dorchester, Massachusetts, using beans brought in by New England sea captains from their voyages to the West Indies,

• James Baker financed the first mill, which was operated by an Irish immigrant, John Hanan.
• Waterpower was used for grinding the beans.
• In the Netherlands in 1828, C.J.
• Van Houten patented a process for pressing much of the fat, or cocoa butter, from ground and roasted cocoa beans and thus obtaining cocoa powder.

In 1847 the English firm of Fry and Sons combined cocoa butter with chocolate liquor and sugar to produce sweet (eating) chocolate —the base of most chocolate confectionary—and in 1876 Daniel Peter of Switzerland added dried milk to make milk chocolate.