The skinny on Dirty Girl strawberries
Too often we find that supermarket strawberries look gorgeous but do not live up to their promise. They are blood-hued with high plump shoulders, but on the palate almost crunchy and utterly flavorless. It's this comparison that makes biting into a deliciously ripe, sweet and juicy strawberry such a revelation. But what is it that makes a good strawberry good and a bad one so bad?
Dirty Girl Farm owner Joe Schirmer has the formula down. Dirty Girl has farmed organically since its inception in 1995 and farms four varieties of strawberries along with dozens of other crops in Santa Cruz County. Every year we wait with baited breath for these beauties to show up at the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. We spoke with Joe on the phone to learn a little more about how strawberries are farmed. It turns out they need a lot of care. He checks them daily for pests and also covers them in plastic sheets in order to slow evaporation, conserve water and protect the delicate fruit.
It turns out that one of the most important factors contributing to strawberry deliciousness is that the fruit needs to be picked when it's ripe, not before. Supermarket strawberries are picked unripe because they bruise less easily and last longer on the shelf. But since these babies are grown only 90 miles away from San Francisco and packaged very carefully, they get to you in good condition.
One way Chef Justine likes to enjoy her strawberries here at Sunbasket is in an arugula salad with roast chicken and a light balsamic vinaigrette. When asked what his favorite way to eat strawberries was, Joe turned to his son sitting beside him: “with my teeth,” he replied.