Cooking strawberries: zero waste!

Buying tips

The ideal time to buy strawberries is from now until around September. Local strawberries are the tastiest, so I suggest you stock up for the year. It's also more cost-effective to buy berries in season and freeze them than to eat them fresh, but from elsewhere, during the winter. Turn them into coulis, compote or dry them to enjoy Quebec produce year-round.

Since strawberries ripen almost as soon as they're picked, it's best to choose bright red fruit with open, unwilted tails, ideally bright green when you buy them.

STORAGE TIPS

If stored with care, freshly picked strawberries can be kept for up to seven days in the refrigerator.

For ideal storage, place your strawberries in the fridge as soon as you get home, without washing or hulling them. You may also want to sort out any that show signs of ripening and transfer them to another container for priority eating. If you isolate the ripest strawberries, they won't spoil the whole tray.

Avoid storing them too close to your freezer, as the freezing temperature will cause excess humidity and/or condensation, which will affect the shelf life of these berries. Ideally, place a cloth or paper towel at the bottom of the container to absorb the excess moisture that causes mold. Don't forget to change the paper every two or three days!

Finally, strawberries are very sensitive to ethylene, a colorless, highly reactive volatile gas that accelerates the ripening process of fruit and certain vegetables. This gas is released by apples, melons, avocados and stone fruit (including tomatoes), so just avoid storing your strawberries next to any of these fruits.

Freezing tips

Strawberries can be frozen for up to 1 year. You can do this in two stages, to prevent them piling up and waterlogging on defrosting. First, spread them out on a flat surface and place them in the freezer for about an hour. Once frozen, transfer your strawberries to a container to finish freezing.

For best results in cooking, cook the berries in their frozen state. This will prevent them from waterlogging and losing their flavor.

BEFORE YOU THROW THEM OUT

Do you like kale? You'll love cooked strawberry tails! Don't throw them away, just grind them up in your smoothies, add them to your meal salads, chop them up in desserts! You'll love them!

By Florence-Léa Siry of Chic Frigo Sans Fric