This story is about the history of the strawberry in France. However, it is not much different from that in other European countries. The journey of the little red gem is long and adventurous – perhaps its secret lies precisely in its aroma and emotional appeal.
In France, strawberry was natively a fruit of the wild and only appeared in gardens and vegetable plots during the Middle Ages.
But let’s take a look back in time…
In the Neolithic era, strawberries grew wild in America and Asia, as well as in the foothills of Western Europe. About 35 species have been identified across these three continents, reflecting the variety of climates where the plant has settled. It is likely that birds spread the seeds over long distances. It has been proven that even our Neolithic ancestors consumed the fragrant wild fruit.
By 1000 BC, the Romans began cultivating it in their gardens. By this time, it was already appreciated for its taste and aroma. Wild strawberries were primarily harvested for their therapeutic benefits and for making beauty masks. In fact, the strawberry (“Fragaria vesca” in Latin) owes its name to its exquisite fragrance.
Certainly originating from the Alps, the wild strawberry has been known since Antiquity, where it produced abundant harvests due to its prolific nature. Even Ovid mentions it in some of his verses:
“They picked fruits from trees, gathered mountain strawberries, Thorns and mulberry fruit hanging on strong branches, Or the harvest of acorns fallen from Jupiter’s trees. It was forever spring; a pleasant, cool breath; Zephyr flowers, never sown, gently came to life.”
During the Middle Ages, wild strawberries were already being sown in gardens, and methods to improve their yield were being sought.
In the Renaissance, the strawberry became a popular fruit, eaten with cream by women or with wine by men.
However, strawberries did not become a subject of true commercial cultivation until the 15th century. The English, followed by the Dutch, improved wild species that grew abundantly in forests to produce larger fruits, particularly of the Fragaria vesca variety. From the 16th century, plants of a variety with larger, darker red fruits (Fragaria virginiana), brought by explorers from the north, were cultivated in the protected botanical gardens of the USA. But it would take another two hundred years before the strawberry truly spread. This would happen only after another species (Fragaria chiloensis) was brought from America and crossbred.
Of course, the French were once again involved in the history of this wonderful fruit.
Firstly, Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, gardener to Louis XIV, honored the fruit by planting 1,400 strawberry plants in the magnificent royal garden. For the greater pleasure of the Sun King, the strawberries were arranged in a frame, and he enjoyed them with delight, despite the prohibition from his doctor, Fagon.
Then, in the 18th century, the French spy Amédée François Frézier, whose mission was to “observe” the port fortifications of Chile and Peru, discovered strawberries larger than the wild strawberries existing in Europe at the time. He noticed that the inhabitants of Chile cultivated and consumed the fruits in every possible way: fresh, dried, or processed into alcohol, which they offered to important visitors.
On August 17, 1714, Amédée François Frézier returned to Marseille, carrying Fragaria chiloensis plants in his luggage, which he delivered to the botanical garden in Brest and then to the Royal Garden. Transported to Paris, these plants bore fruit after being crossbred with the Virginia strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), a variety with small red fruits brought from Quebec a century earlier. Only five female plants survived the crossbreeding. But that was enough! From this union, created on European soil between two plants of American origin, a new species was born, which would very quickly supply most of the world’s strawberry production. It would be called Fragaria ananassa (pineapple strawberry) because of the fruit’s pineapple-like flavor.
However, the French remained attached to their small woodland strawberry, which they found infinitely more fragrant than the large American hybrid. Even today, it can be found in local markets during the season.
By various paths, chance brought the Chilean strawberry to the Plougastel Peninsula in 1740. Taking advantage of the exceptionally mild oceanic climate, similar to that of the original home of the Chilean strawberry, this town became the first to cultivate it to such an extent that by 1937, the region produced a quarter of France’s strawberries…
The subsequent history of the little red fragrant gem is clear. Today, global strawberry production is enormous. In France, it exceeds 125,000 tons annually. But the leaders are China, the USA, and Mexico, which together offer over 60% of the world’s strawberry production. Strawberry varieties change frequently to meet consumers’ taste preferences. Over 600 varieties are known today. The most famous include: Gariguette, Cigaline, Ciflorette, Darselect, Mara des bois, and others.
The strawberry is everywhere – in our gardens, on our tables, in cosmetics, even paired with chocolate to accompany love messages…
And finally! Did you know, actually, that the strawberry is a “false fruit”?
In the botanical sense of the term, the “real” fruits of the strawberry are actually the achenes. These are those small, dry seeds symmetrically arranged in more or less deep pockets on the strawberry.
A delightful and mysterious fruit, isn’t it?
