Choose firm berries with no trace of yellow near the stem, with a nice shiny red colour. The drabber the colour, the older the berry is. Look for a stiff collar with a bright green colour. Avoid strawberries that are too soft or that have overly prominent achenes.

Be aware that strawberries will not ripen any further: buy them ripe, with no green or white parts.

Handle carefully: strawberries are fragile and do not stand up to shocks or heat.

Because they are fragile they must be eaten soon. Keep in the crisper of the refrigerator or in a cool place, but never for a long time at room temperature.

To keep them for a longer time, simple add sugar - they can also be frozen flat in a plastic bag. Make them into a sorbet or a sauce.

To avoid handling strawberries, run them quickly under cold water in their little plastic baskets.

Never run them under water once they have been hulled: they will absorb water quickly and become insipid.

Don’t serve strawberries chilled: cold dulls their flavor.

Strawberries blush with pleasure to be included in salad, either on their own or with other berries, melon, rhubarb, apricots, peaches, etc. Add some herbs to enhance the flavor of a strawberry coulis or add a grinding of fresh black pepper or a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar to strawberries for dessert.

Add some herbs to enhance the flavour of a strawberry coulis.

sprinkle berries with citrus juice or sugar to preserve their colour if you prepare them in advance;

depending on the variety, strawberries can be either sweet or sour; taste one first to see how much sugar they will need;

use raw in fruit salads, sorbet, juices, sauces;

macerate in red wine, kirsch or champagne;

dip in melted chocolate;

use cooked in jam, jelly, mousse, flan, etc.