Split Bean Coffee's Flavor of The Month for June 2006 -

Split Bean Coffee's Flavor of The Month for June 2006 -
Strawberry Alfajores & Mashmallows

Split Bean Coffee's Flavor of The Month is Strawberry. This wonderful fruit makes a great tasting preserve that compliment our cookie waffers perfectly. Our preserves imported from France and contain no preservatives or additives. You may order our Flavor of The month in both our Standard and Bite Size variety. Order two boxes of our flavor of the month and receive a free sample of one of our micro-roasted coffees. Planning a gathering this late spring, our Alfajores la Misíon are great way to enjoy the company of friends and family. The make great camping treats, or can be used to make ambrosia salads with a twist.

A Brief Story of The Strawberry

The strawberry is a member of the rose family and is unique in that it is the only fruit with seeds on the outside rather than the inside. They are also a very healthy fruit, being rich in vitamin C and a good source of folic acid as well as being high in fibre.

Strawberries were cultivated by the Romans as early as 200 BC and in mediaeval times strawberries were regarded as an aphrodisiac and a soup made of strawberries, borage and soured cream was traditionally served to newly-weds at their wedding breakfast. However, it is believed that the Strawberry was cultivated in the American Hemisphere way before the arrival of the europeans. Native American Indians were already eating strawberries in warm corn meal when the Colonists arrived.

Until 1550-1551 the Mapuche and Huilliche Indians of South America, cultivated their strawberries undisturbed. Then the Spanish conquistador, Pizzaro, who had been attempting to conquer Chile for fifteen years, appointed Pedro de Valdivia supreme commander of the Spanish troops in Cuzco, Peru. Under Pizzaro they were able to penetrate the region between the Itata and the Tolten rivers where the Mapuche put up a strong resitance.

The Spaniards finally won the battle, and as keen appraisers of South American culture, they counted the strawberry among the spoils of conquest. Soon after, the Chilean strawberry arrived in Cuzco, then the home of Garcilazo de la Vega, the son of an Inca princess and a Spanish conquistador. In his study of Inca culture, Los Commentarios Reales de los Incas, he described the fruits cultivated by the Incas of his day. Although de la Vega left Peru in 1559, he included in his descriptions a fruit called the Chili, which he thought probably had come to Cuzco in 1557, six years after Valdivia's conquest. According to him, this pleasant-tasting fruit bore small seeds on its surface like the fruits of the Arbutus. Both fruits were of the same size, but that of the Chili was rather long and heart-shaped instead of round, and the plant grew on low bushes which crept along the ground. Botanists are certain that de la Vega was probably describing the strawberry. As he was unable to give the fruit a Peruvian name, he called it instead the "Chili," thus supporting the evidence that the species was F. chiloensis, the strawberry of the Mapuche and Huilliche Indians.

The Chilean strawberry's journey from Chile to France in 1714 was the most important event in the history of the modern strawberry. The Chilean berry had one quality the European kinds lacked -- size. The larger berries attracted the notice of a French spy who had crossed the pirate-menaced seas to Chile in the early 1700's on a mission for King Louis XIV. Along with his observations on fortresses, armies, guns and supply routes, governors and Indians, he included a description and drawing of the Chilean strawberry. A collector as well as an observer, he spent six months caring for the specimens he took with him on the return voyage to France. Through the initiative of this French Spy, the New World strawberry, already cultivated for many years by the Chilean Indians, was brought cross-bred with the North American F. virginiana which the French were already cultivating. The American Exchange, the great exchange of foods between Europe and The Americas is full of wonderful stories like this one. We can include amongst them The Tomatoe, The Potatoe, Chili Peppers, Coffee, and Corn.

Today, Strawberries are harvested by hand. They are picked, packed and shipped within 24 hours to stores all over America, they are also shipped to Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Japan.

California produces 80% of all strawberries in the nation, thanks to migrant farm workers who are a important part of the American agricultural economy. California alone grows one billion pounds a year. Americans eat on an average, about 5 lbs of strawberries each year. California plants 24,000 acres of land of strawberries which produce 21 tons of strawberries each year.

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