A sure sign of spring here in Paris is the arrival of fraises gariguette, those famous, sweet strawberries from the southwest of France. The first time I tasted them was six years ago when I first moved here. I had invited my landlady for lunch and she arrived with a small paper bag filled with the gariguettes. They were a revelation; fresh strawberries? In April? I’ve been a convert ever since.
The berries I get in my neighborhood marché look odd; not very uniform and frankly a little ugly. But the flavor is sweet and concentrated, reminiscent of the wild strawberries that I used to pick in Connecticut.
This morning, the berries I bought came from a producer in the town of Montesquieu, way south in the country. They are grown on slopes and hand picked. A quick look at their web site tells me that it takes three years to train a picker to cut the fruit at the right place and at the peak of ripeness. The day begins at 7 o’clock in the morning with a coffee break and then lunch at 1:30. The gathering ends around 4 o’clock because they want to get the fruit to the market as quickly as possible.
“It is a work of patience and rigor,” the Web site says, adding that there are more women than men packing and gathering the fragile berries (suggesting that men may not have these two qualities?).
And how to eat them? The classic way is salade de fraises, just a bowl of these luscious gariguettes with sugar and a little lemon juice. The site suggests “the greedy way” is to add some whipped cream as well. A tart is a good idea too, though I’ve never made it that far. I just dump the berries in a bowl and snack on them all day. By the time I think about rolling out some dough, I have only two of three left.
Just the right number to drop into a glass of champagne and toast spring with a good friend. À votre santé!
Doug Cushman is a former Redding artist and author who now lives and works in Paris. He was born in Springfield, Ohio and moved to Connecticut with his family when he was 15 years old. While in high school he created comic books lampooning his teachers, selling them to his classmates for a nickel a piece.
Since 1978, he has illustrated and/or written more than 100 books for children and collected a number of honors, including a Reuben Award for Book Illustration from the National Cartoonists Society, New York Times Children’s Books Best Sellers, and the New York Public Library’s Best 100 Books of 2000. He enjoys hiking, kayaking and cooking (and eating!). Learn more about Doug, his art and his books at his Web site, http://www.doug-cushman.com/index.htm
