Wait, did I just say strawberry picking in January?? As it turns out, peak strawberry season in Taiwan runs from December to April. If we were to wait until June or July, as we would in New York, then I’m afraid the poor strawberries would be mostly dead or begging to be killed due to the intense heat.
Blessed with a gorgeous Saturday here in Taipei, Jules and I set out with Jules’ classmate, Alex, and his parents, Ashley and Johnny, for a leisurely morning of strawberry picking at one of the Bishan mountain farms in the Neihu district of Taipei. I’ve done my fair share of cherry and apple picking in New York but never strawberry, so I was very excited. Jules was looking forward to the prospect of making strawberry jam.
We headed into the hills of Neihu where we settled on a strawberry farm in the Bishan Road area, which offered both conventionally grown and organically grown strawberries. I was struck dumb by the sight of ripe strawberries calling out my name that I completely blocked out the numbers the farmer was giving me as to the cost per weight of the strawberries. Well, one very heavy box of strawberries and a small fortune later, we found ourselves laden with more strawberries than we could possibly stuff into our mouths for the next few days. So, guess what? Strawberry jammmm!! We happily cooked up some strawberry jam to gift to some of our friends, including the wonderful couple at Figure 21 (one of my favorite shops in Taipei and most likely the subject of a future blog post).
So, how do the strawberries actually taste? Well, if you’ve read any of my previous blog posts about food in Taiwan, then you’d know the answer. These strawberries make the ones in the States seem like water-logged, crunchy versions of what someone thinks a strawberry should taste like in a strawberry shape. First, you’re struck by the incredible fragrance of the fruit. Then, you bite into the medium-firm fruit and taste the sweet-sour flesh of what your brain recognizes as the essence of strawberry, and there you have it.
Afterwards, we rewarded our strawberry picking efforts with a relaxing stay at a local cafe overlooking a beautiful garden, while Johnny entertained the boys by catching crickets and grasshoppers. We then crossed the stunning Baishihu suspension bridge, designed to look like the spine of a dragon flying over the valley. The boys certainly had fun running across the bridge a few times.
One of the best parts of the day is that we now have strawberry jam to tide us over once this scrumptious plum and thyme jam from the oh-so-good cafe SQIRL in LA runs out.
