Strawberries sweet seducers | Romantik Hotels & Restaurants

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The Collective fruit

With its bright red colour, it spreads a good mood, tastes of sunshine and lightness - and yet it is a sweet dazzler. Strictly speaking, it is not a berry at all, but a collective fruit, as it is composed of several seeds. The small, yellow seeds stuck in the surface are actually the actual fruits - the large, red, tasty rest has formed from the flower base.

A real vitamin bomb
But with the aroma and versatility, such botanical subtleties quickly fade into the background, and rightly so! The garden strawberries popular in Europe, which emerged in America over 200 years ago from the cross between the small scarlet strawberry and the large chile strawberry, consist of 90 percent water. The remaining ten per cent have a lot to offer. Vitamins, fibre, minerals, everything in abundance. Strawberries not only taste delicious, they are also mega healthy and, with zero grams of fat and only 32 calories per 100 grams, absolutely figure-friendly. In addition, the slimming fruit provides more vitamin C than oranges or lemons, namely 65 mg per 100 grams. A 200-gram bowl is easily enough to cover the daily requirement. The abundant potassium in strawberries stimulates kidney activity and thus promotes the drainage of the body, flushing out toxins. With their fibre content, they also aid digestion.

The sun determines the flavour
The strawberries are at their best from the end of May to August - this is the strawberry season. The more sun they can soak up during this time, the more intense their flavour. The right harvest time is particularly important for a full flavour, because they do not ripen again once they have been picked. Strawberries taste best when eaten or processed immediately after purchase. They will keep for one to two days in the refrigerator. It is best to sort out berries with bruises immediately, otherwise they will spoil the neighbouring fruit. It is also important to remove the green leaves and stalks only after washing, so that the strawberries stay crisp and fresh for longer and retain their aroma.

Real all-rounders
The red seducers - not only aromatic and healthy, but also truly multi-talented in the kitchen. Eaten plain, they are a real treat. And as a dessert, for example with an asparagus dish, they are the perfect accompaniment. Since the fruits have no fat and hardly any calories, the dessert can of course be sweetened with a dollop of cream. Actually, almost anything can be conjured up on a healthy strawberry base: jams, cakes, a delicious topping on crêpes, sorbet made from fruit pulp or pureed fruit - the repertoire is huge. They add a sweet flavour to savoury dishes, harmonise excellently with hot spices, and a dressing with strawberries takes the tart note out of salads. With so many talents, it doesn't matter in the end that behind the red seductress is actually a sweet mock berry.

Strawberry all-rounder

Strawberries not only have fewer calories than most domestic fruits, they also contain more vitamins, fibre and minerals. Their vitamin C content is higher than that of lemons and oranges.
The fruits are an excellent source of iron and folic acid, which is important for the metabolism.
Their high content of salicylic acid can help with gout and rheumatic pain.
Among the plant substances in the strawberry are many antioxidants that protect the body's cells.
Calcium strengthens the bones, and strawberries contain so much of it that they also protect against osteoporosis.
The multitude of varieties is almost unmanageable. Among the best known are Sonata, Elsanta and Ostara.

Legendary strawberry drink

Strawberries are also at the forefront of refreshing drinks. In a cool milkshake, as a tangy punch or in the legendary Strawberry Daiquiri. White rum, lemon juice, six strawberries, sugar syrup and strawberry liqueur, lots of crushed ice - and the famous drink is ready. There is an interesting story behind its ingredients. The cult drink owes its name to the small town of Daiquiri in Cuba.

There, at the beginning of the 20th century, the American engineer Jennings Cox worked in a mine and, according to legend, invented the cocktail out of necessity. When he was entertaining guests from home, he is said to have run out of the usual gin. Cox mixed the local rum with strawberries, sugar syrup and lemon - and thus invented the strawberry daiquiri.