Recently I had the opportunity to visit Chef instructor Jennifer Denlinger, CC, CHE, where she teaches at the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Orlando. She was one of the chefs on the harvest tour earlier in the month.
Within hours of having visited the farms and other facilities, she invited me to give a presentation to her students on behalf of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association.
Chef Denlinger and her students were so excited to see us.
Over 30 students and faculty members attended our presentation. Part of the presentation included a taste test of three different varieties of strawberries grown here in Florida; Radiance, Treasure and Festival.
The strawberry varieties were scored on color, taste, uniformity, size and appearance. In the end, Radiance was the clear winner.
The students and faculty were amazed to learn about the different characteristics of strawberry varieties. We even took live strawberry plants and gave them away along with Jammer dolls and recipe brochures.
We got a great response from the students who said they really learned something about Florida and the strawberry industry.
The chef made homemade butter a delicious strawberry salad along with a strawberry rice pudding and a strawberry and onion salsa to serve after the presentation. I’m happy to tell you that some of these recipes will be available the blog soon!
We always look forward to sharing our passion for fresh Florida strawberries to food professionals and consumers alike.
