Strawberry fest underway in Chiang Mai

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Strawberry fest underway in Chiang Mai

 

 

CHIANG MAI, 13 February 2017 (NNT) - The northern province of Chiang Mai is holding the 16th Strawberry Festival in Samoeng district as a treat for strawberry lovers and tourists. 

The festival which is taking place at Samoeng District Office features exhibitions by the local administrative organizations, a floral parade, entertainments and shows and outlets selling strawberry products from the royal development projects and One Tambon One Product (OTOP) operators. 

The festival aims to promote the strawberry industry and eco-tourism in Samoeng district, conserve cultural diversity among different ethnic groups and foster ties between the general public and local government organizations. The event will continue until 14th February.

 

-- nnt 2017-02-13

[FolkGuitar]

I've been following the development of the Thai strawberry since its introduction as a cash crop here in the North. The poor strawberry has gone from a tasteless pale, misshapen berry, something I would bite into and spit out, to the plate of "real" strawberries that we had as dessert with last night's dinner. This was the first year that I can honestly say 'Thailand grows good strawberries.' It still has a way to go before I'll give them my 5-star rating, but I can certainly see that happening within the next few years. Congrats, Thailand!  Good strawberries!

 

[Trujillo]

What? You ate them and didn't get toxic strawberry shock syndrome? I'm shocked! 

 

[FolkGuitar]

20 minutes ago, Trujillo said:

What? You ate them and didn't get toxic strawberry shock syndrome? I'm shocked!

 

We hand-wash each berry using a stiff wire brush and an Industrial-strength detergent, then let them sit overnight in a solution of vinegar, acetic acid, and Clorox Bleach, all just slightly diluted with water that has been run through a Reverse Osmosis filter... twice.  They come out looking like yellow grapes, and taste like my pillow, but WOW! Strawberries!

 

[bamboozled]

My wife just bought a couple kgs of them. They look albino, 85% white. However, much to my surprise, they taste pretty good. Tart yes but with enough sweetness to make them enjoyable. Kind of like a green mango when it's half sweet/half sour. Are they adulterated? I dunno...

[thai3]

All the ones I have had have been hard and sour, waste of money

[Canceraid]

Eeks! Thai strawberries...taste like sh__! I never buy them. Only for the peasants who do not really know what real strawberries should be like.

[ignis]

strawberries... appears to be 2 types........ large + small ones, sour + hard + tasteless... the other type . large + small ones, sweet soft and great taste..

 

always understood the large ones come from the north ?  Saturday at my local market the large sweet and juicy ones were 90 baht for 2 kg.  last week they where 100 baht per kg...

 

also a very good buy the small juicy pip-less red grapes at 100 baht for 3 kg 

[toofarnorth]

Bought some last week up here in the real north and with condensed milk were not bad at all.

[jonwilly]

Poor or bad tasting Strawberries are common in CM.

However I have had decent ones in the past from the Royal Project Shop on Suthep Rd.

Last year I bought excellent ones, 5 baskets, B100 each from Samong.

I was visiting an old friend up in Mae Rim and continued on to Samong.

Well worth the trip.

 

john

[connda]

5 hours ago, jonwilly said:

Poor or bad tasting Strawberries are common in CM.

However I have had decent ones in the past from the Royal Project Shop on Suthep Rd.

Last year I bought excellent ones, 5 baskets, B100 each from Samong.

I was visiting an old friend up in Mae Rim and continued on to Samong.

Well worth the trip.

 

john

I hate 'hit or miss' purchasing.  So I simply don't buy them.  That and the amount of chemicals used to produce them puts me off.  We have enough local fruit coming out of our own yard.  No chemicals.  Much better. 

[bamboozled]

My wife bought these at a Royal Project thingy in Mae Sa Mai (sp?) village in Mae Rim (at Mae Rim?). It is a Hmong village somewhere up in the mountains around those parts. I had some more of the berries this afternoon since posting and they are getting sweeter and really are quite enjoyable. I'm a convert.

[ChakaKhan]

Dont forget to dump a ton of sugar on them!

 

Im always unsure which vendor to stop at....

 

The first one i see---or the 18 others lined up after....

 

No wolly mista..same same but different...

[Jeremy50]

They sort of taste like strawberries, can be bland or sour. But can you find some clotted cream to go with them?

[Greenside]

Beats me where all the people complaining about the quality of the strawberries here are getting their ideas unless they haven't bought any for about five years.  Folk Guitar is spot on: the varieties have changed along with the picking times and now you can get really good ones almost everywhere.

[Canceraid]

My friend just came back this morning from Chiang  Mai to Bangkok and as he was driving, he bought about 3 kilos worth of it for us here. It simply tasted horrible! Yes, they were slightly larger than the past and had some light green patches just like the Korean or Japanese strawberries but they tasted yucks! By the way, have you guys tried the Japanese or Korean Strawberries at Paragon or Emquartier or Villa (I know it might seem expensive and not affordable for some TV members here) but try it,  to understand what good strawberries taste like please,  and understand why we say the Chiang Mai ones taste horrid.

[jvs]

To all you unbelievers!!!!They have fantastic tasting strawberries here,as good as in Europe!

If you are unsure which ones to get,they let you taste!!

Last time i was there i ate a whole bunch of them and a few made it home.

For your information,most stalls sell two kinds,the good ones are a lot more expensive but they are worth it!!!

[siam2007]

On 13/02/2017 at 8:30 AM, FolkGuitar said:

 

We hand-wash each berry using a stiff wire brush and an Industrial-strength detergent, then let them sit overnight in a solution of vinegar, acetic acid, and Clorox Bleach, all just slightly diluted with water that has been run through a Reverse Osmosis filter... twice.  They come out looking like yellow grapes, and taste like my pillow, but WOW! Strawberries!

 

 

funny to read, but seriously, I strongly believe that 99% of the "Sa-dtraaw-bee-rees" in CNX are highly toxic.

The good thing about that is, if you eat 1 Kilo every month, you will probably not need to be embalmed after your death as your corpse will simply not rot for years

[FolkGuitar]

1 hour ago, siam2007 said:

 

funny to read, but seriously, I strongly believe that 99% of the "Sa-dtraaw-bee-rees" in CNX are highly toxic.

The good thing about that is, if you eat 1 Kilo every month, you will probably not need to be embalmed after your death as your corpse will simply not rot for years

 

As a child, I lived for several years in a location and at a time when human 'night soil' was the main fertilizer for vegetable crops. Somehow, we managed to live through that. I feel strongly that I will survive Chiang Mai's strawberries. I would suppose that if one were to eat a punnet of strawberries twice a day for the next few years, one may turn a different shade of green. But we might only eat a handful of berries every few weeks. We may actually live forever. 

[Rotweiler]

As usual. Folkguitar is promoting the unpromotable.  Cm strawberries for the most part, are crap.  Spend your 20B and buy a sleeve, so you are tell FG how full of it he is again.

[ignis]

16 hours ago, siam2007 said:

 

funny to read, but seriously, I strongly believe that 99% of the "Sa-dtraaw-bee-rees" in CNX are highly toxic.

The good thing about that is, if you eat 1 Kilo every month, you will probably not need to be embalmed after your death as your corpse will simply not rot for years

 eat 1 Kilo every month ?? as there so cheap at the moment eat 2 kilos a week...  had gone up to 100 baht for 2 kilos last Thursday at the local market..  all I know she said they come from the North, or at least they did a few years ago, she know the ones I want so always have the sweet juicy ones, eat them as they are. + appears to do nothing to my BG levels, but then I do eat a lot of fruit and my BG readings range from 110 - 130

[canuckamuck]

I used to mock Thai strawberries too, then, two years ago, we bought some on a whim. They were excellent, and we bought another 5 kg.  I am certain you can still find the old kind, the ones that were similar to wood in taste and texture. But keep looking, you'll find the good ones.

[the guest]

Shame they can't work  on the tomatoes here. Sell in the shops but need to take out a mortgage to buy them.

[balo]

Its a hit or a miss here in CM , but I read some horror stories about pesticides that makes strawberries very toxic so I try to limit my hunger for it. 

 

[Awk]

On 2/27/2017 at 4:28 AM, balo said:

Its a hit or a miss here in CM , but I read some horror stories about pesticides that makes strawberries very toxic so I try to limit my hunger for it. 

 

 

There's a farang that has a farm here in CM - Villa Farm Fruit" - who advertises that he uses "organic pesticides" only.   They're a bit pricey at around 200B per box I think, but look and taste better than anything else I've seen here, in addition to hopefully being mostly pesticide free.  

 

Check out "http://www.facebook.com/VillaFarmFruit/" if interested.  He also delivers to some locations in CM every (?) week in the season I think.