MARA DES BOIS strawberries

[canadamike]

Today I had the chance to finally taste the Mara des Bois «strawberries I finally found in Quebec after searching in France and hopelessly trying to import some. I went trough a LOT of troubles and search to finally get a supply.

They are a totally new taste experience. A new fruit. They don't taste AT ALL like the berries we know, not even close. The best way to describe them my friends and I is ''some papaya candy taste'', from memories of our youth, there was a popular candy made out of them that tasted fruity but like nothing else.

It is like the genetic package of strawberries visually, but something TOTALLY different in the mouth.

I sent some to Alan, he told me he only had one cultivar of a white strawb that tasted as good, but was also in lack of words as how to describe them.

The producer, a big supplyer of berries to the commercial trade and the only one in Quebec with knowledge of the european berries, was also unable to describe them.

Neither could his field manager and the ladies in the office. All of them knew them well, but nobody could describe the taste, it is that different.

My friend could not either, but they have problems getting to them, the kids are just plain crazy for the berries.

And I know why now. It took me a couple of hours to find in my memory what I had tasted that was similar. They were small rectangular hard sweet/sour candies that we bought packaged to put in a little hand held plastic distributor. We would flick it like a BIC and a candy would pop out.

But there is no sourness in the berries, just a very concentrated flavor and lots of sugar. As Alan and the others said, they taste even more than wild berries and are much sweeter.

I never tought a strawberry could taste something like that. In France, all the great chefs have united to promote it, it has become the stawberry of the starred restaurants.

Fruit growers and lovers, YOU'VE GOT TO PUT YOUR HANDS ON SOME.

Ask Alan...

[Jim]

THey taste like pezz. THats awesome. Cant wait to learn more about these,

[canadamike]

Yes, that's it PEZZ!! I knew there was at least a Z in there, but could not remember. At least the flavor of my childhood. It might have changed with time, like Juicy Fruit did, and Bazooka bubble gum and....

I am a bit older than you CB !

But man are they concentrated in flavor and oh so extraordinarily sweet!!

Alan, what do you think? Does your PEZZ taste like mine?

Here is a text on it from the company that sells it in the states. I disagree with their analysis of its sweetness, it is quite sweeter than others ( so everybody at the farm think) , and the only way to have a taste close to the others, we have found, is to eat a slightly unripe one. I think the guy is just doing marketing, with nice words like ''perfect balance etc...'' If not, I would love a puff of what he smokes if he finds any balance of acidity and sugar...To all of us, the said balance weighs much more on the side of sugar and perfume.



Organic Mara des Bois
The Little Berry with the Big, Untamed Taste!

In 1990, a French strawberry breeder named Jacques Marionnet set out to create a strawberry to rival the wildest of the woods. Four heirloom varieties, Gento, Ostara, Red Gauntlet and Korona were selected as parents based, not on their ease of growth or high yield potential, but rather for their individual strength of character. Each contributes a layer of flavor or texture to their unique offspring, the Mara des Bois.

The combination of flavors and textures of this hybrid is not one that will satisfy every palate. Those accustomed to large berries with firm, watery flesh or the overwhelming sweetness of strawberry jam should look elsewhere for their ideal. The Mara des Bois offers a rare balance of sweetness and acidity, the musk of wild strawberries and succulent, red-orange flesh that spreads across your palate like buttery ambrosia. The berries range in size from that of a chick pea to that of a walnut and each berry, regardless of size, exhibits this unique aromatic profile.

Wicked Wilds has a unique approach to growing the Mara des Bois. Rather than utilizing the low risk herbicides, pesticides and fungicides allowed by current organic standards we chose the no risk approach. Weeding and pruning are our herbicides and fungicides, physical barriers our pesticides. We incorporate twenty thousand dollars of organic compost, fertilizers and amendments into each acre we farm. The nutrient applications we provide the plants and soil strengthen the cell wall and the integrity of the plant system, allowing them to resist disease, naturally. The absence of fungicides allows the natural growth of beneficial microbial colonies which allow for the breakdown and conversion of organic materials into available nutrients for the plants.

These optimal photosynthetic conditions contribute to the overall health of the plants and allow them to produce healthy flowers and fruit. It is well documented that healthy, well nourished plants have higher nutritional content.

Our methods are labor intensive and that’s how we like it. The absence of chemicals and toxins in our fields means there is no risk of exposure to our field workers, wildlife or the consumers. Mara des Bois, grown in this environment, beyond organic, achieves a level of gustatory greatness that may even surpass the vision of Jacques Marionnet, himself.



Wicked Wilds, Inc. 509 South Cedros Avenue Suite E, Solana Beach, CA 92075 858.755.7650

By the way, the same Marionet has created another one that will be available in North »America next year, CHARLOTTE, according to my buddies across the big lake marvelous, but in a more classic sense.

[plantsnobin]

I buy Pez buy the pound for the kids in my family.

[canadamike]

Yep! That is IT!!

[Alan]

Not a big pez fan myself, but I can see the comparisson a little bit. The closest thing to it are the yellow/white pineapple crush type alpines that I am growing, though they are a bit substandard even (unless allowed to overripen a bit, would be great for strawberry wine). I've only had just a few because it has been so dry, but they are indeed very nice and very different from what your idea of a strawberry normally is. It is very hard to explain. They have a somewhat Paw Paw or Indiana Banana type after bite, but I think that's still to simple for them, there is more there than just that and even that is more of an afterthought type of taste.

[evilfruitlord]

I don't know whether they'll have them again, but Sierra Cascade Nursery in northern California had 'Mara des Bois' earlier this year.

[Alan]

Hopefully all will go well with my crop and in time I will be able to offer some starts to the members of Homegrown, they are a wonderful berry and very full of flavor, I was very impressed by the crop that I was getting off of them last year and they are mulched in well at the moment and will hopefully provide fruit and starts for years to come.

[plantsnobin]

Today as I was going through the stack of catalogs that I don't order from, I picked up the White Flower Farm catalog. Pretty pictures, overpriced and undersized plants so I don't fall for them anymore, but anyway, they are offering them this year. I couldn't believe they, of all companies would be selling it, but they have it. 3 plants for $24.95. Of course you can order a strawberry jar planter and 9 plants plus potting soil for a mere $135. What a bargain.

[plantsnobin]

Just thought I would let everyone know that Nourse is now carrying these at reasonable prices.

[ottawagardener]

I'm intrigued - especially by their cartoon shapes

[paulien]

I'm quite a strawberry collector and i collected:

- Mara des Bois
- Elsanta
- Ostara
- Temptation
- Evie
- Senga sengana
- Corona
- Magnum Cascade
- Marshmellow
- Mount Omei
- Red Wonder
- Roman
- Yellow Wonder
- Frau Mieze schindler
- Darselect
- Maxim

And still a few others i can't recall right now. I'm growing them in big pots and pot up the runners around them to get more plants and have more strawberries next year.

I'm still looking for a variety thats new here called Pineberry. A new strawberry that taste like pineapple. It's a white strawberry with red seeds.
Ever heard of it?

[castanea]

We have a thread that discussed the red seeded white strawberry, although the thread may be under a different name.

You may be interested in these strawberries from Estonia:

www.seemnemaailm.ee/eng/index.php?CID=21

[canadamike]

Paulien: this is a very interesting list of strawbs. Can you tell us a bit more about their taste? I sure would appreciate and I am pretty sure most would...

[mnjrutherford]

Wow, if you feel like you just crawled out from under a rock by reading about the differing flavors, just wait till you get the opportunity to actually TASTE the differences! You are going to be in heaven! ;D