summer — Food Stories — Heirloom Food Project

What’s the Big Deal with Danish Strawberries?

There’s no use getting into an argument with a Dane over which country grows the best strawberries. (It’s obviously Denmark.) I’m here to highlight why there may be truth to their claim – and if that’s not enough – why it’s worth hopping aboard the pride-wagon anyway.

Four years ago, I started Heirloom Food Project because I wanted people to feel immense pride for the foods of their culture. When people take pride in what’s growing around them, they protect it, they celebrate it, they derive great joy from eating it. It binds them to their neighbors. It connects them to their land. It offers them identity.

The International, Denmark, Expat LifeGina LorubbioJuly 3, 2019summer, berries, Denmark, strawberries, Danish strawberries, Scandinavia, 2019

Raspberries: Indulge in the Abundance

Some years, deep into July I’ll glance at my pale skin and my untouched bathing suit and snap to the realization: “Oh my gosh, it’s summer!”

As a child, summer would loudly announce itself on the last day of school. That marked a clear transition from days defined by early morning wakening and late evening homeworking to the glorious days of sleeping till ten and playing outside past dark.

When that last school bell rang, it was unquestionably, officially summer.

But now, in full blown adulthood, I’ve learned that it’s up to me to acknowledge the season. Nobody is going to pull me out from behind my laptop, walk me outside, and slap an ice cream cone in my hand.

It’s on me—and any of us who can easily get swept up in the day-to-day routines—to partake in our own rituals that squeeze the most out of summer.

This year, picking bright, sweet fruit has been my tactic...

Food History, Heirloom Food Stories, Home cookingGina LorubbioJuly 17, 2017raspberry, raspberries, summer, berries, berry-picking, simple cooking, indulge, u-pick, natural beauty, jam, 2017