Strawburry Madness!

Springtime is here and that means strawburries, strawburries, strawburries!  Clearly the "u" is for the proper British pronounciation, in case you were wondering.

Today at the market, there were strawberries (the correct spelling) from Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco -- still too early for French ones apparently though they have been creeping into stores.

A nice merchant let me taste the Portguese berries, and I was delighted.  While smaller, cuter, and alltogether adorable, their taste was anything but tiny.  They were super sweet and tantalizing.  Thanks Portugal. 

But I didn't buy them.

The Moroccan ones, as I have experienced, are good, but a little too tough for my tastes.  Not surprising since you needd to be tough to make that voyage from Africa!  

But a strawberry (again, correct spelling) should melt in your mouth with little effort and should be instantaneously sweet.  The Spanish ones that are sold more frequently are sometimes, but not always like that.  Sometimes they are just too fleshy and lacking in flavor.

The Italian ones, however, are hitting the spot.  Maybe I just got a good batch, but these suckers are SWEET and soft and beautifully red and delcious and perfect.  I am pleased.  AND they were the least inexpensive (1.50 euros for 2 boxes).  Now the only problem is to eat them all before they go bad, but I don't think this will be quite the challenge I think it will be...