You've Been Eating Strawberries All Wrong
Hollywood hasn't made a movie out of it yet, but believe us, it's true. In the early 1700s, French military engineer, Amedée François Frézier, risked being attacked by pirates and drowned by ocean storms, crossing the Atlantic in a mission to collect intelligence for the French crown. He brought back five living strawberry plants that he described as growing berries "as big a walnut, and sometimes as a Hen's egg" (via Atlas Obscura). If you ever wanted proof that strawberries are worth their weight in gold, there you have it.
Why was Frézier so taken with strawberries? Perhaps its because the French think that they're aphrodisiacs (via Food Republic). We can hardly blame them. After all, California grows enough strawberries in one year to go around the world 15 times when placed berry to berry. And if you're like the average U.S. American, you'll eat about 4.85 pounds of the delicious, red fruit in their fresh or frozen form this year (via University of Illinois Extension).
How do you prepare them for eating? Do you simply cut off their green, leafy, tops? Then you've been eating strawberries wrong you're entire life.
How to make the most out of your strawberries
First things first. Strawberries are filled with tiny (although completely harmless) bugs. To enjoy them sans the extra protein, go ahead and soak them in saltwater for between five to 30 minutes. That part is up to you.
The next part, however, isn't — at least if you want to destem your berry without wasting more of the heavenly fruit than absolutely necessary. Eat This, Not That! suggests that the best way to remove a strawberry's stem is with a straw. It's not rocket science. Simply place a plastic straw at the bottom of a strawberry and push through it. In one, fell swoop you'll have gotten rid of the berry's leaves and stalk. Our only advice? Don't move too fast. Instead, give the strawberry the respect it deserves and spend a good five seconds per berry to ensure you're doing it right.
You'll be left, of course, with straw-sized holes in your berries, but we can think of at least one way to put those to good use. Strawberries stuffed with whipped cream, anyone?