Strawberries - add sugar or not?

[Silverbirchleaf]

Growing up, my dm would always add sugar to strawberries to sweeten them. I realise that I no longer do that, as varieties sold now are alot sweeter. I wasn’t actually That fond of strawberries in the past, but quite like them now.

Does anyone routinely add sugar nowadays?

No need to add sugar to strawberries especially Fifer ones!

another one whose dm added sugar
just a sprinkle
and if having cream then its ideal

I don’t unless they’re not naturally sweet. Always a squeeze of lemon though and eat at room temp if serving for pudding. Otherwise as they come, or with Greek yogurt. Yum.

Strawberries, sugar and sometimes cream was a common dessert when I was growing up. Now I tend to have them with breakfast so no more sugar.

We normally eat them straight from the punnet or sliced in muesli with no sugar. If we’re having them with cream they get a sprinkle of sugar and a dash of balsamic vinegar to make a syrup. We eat a lot of strawberries because we live where the best strawberries are grown, Fife, and they are so fresh.
I did spend a summer packing strawberries when I was young, I still don’t eat strawberry yogurt.

Generally no but if we get a bit of a rubbish punnet then I might add sugar to make them palatable. However, I am on occasion horrified (no hyperbole here ) to see them served straight from the fridge! Cold strawberries are tasteless and they definitely need to be room temperature.

My grandma used to, but my mum didn’t give us extra sugar and that was in the 70s, before many of the modern sweeter varieties. Mind you, she rarely bought strawberries out of season and we usually did ‘pick your own’ at a local farm, so they were always ripe and sweet.

This thread has really given me nostalgia for that - DSis and me going up and down the dusty rows in the late afternoon sunshine, searching for fruit under the leaves and straw, with the punnet and the whole field giving off the fragrance of ripe strawberries and both of us eating about three for every one we picked! Happy memories.

Definitely generational. I hadn’t considered the older varieties being less sweet perhaps. Sugar and cream of we had it in my house in 80s

Now I only buy them in June when they are really sweet/ in season. Never would add sugar to any fruit now except maybe cooking apples for apple crumble.

Older varieties of strawberry not older varieties of people … although 😀!

I do put a tiny bit of sugar and some lemon juice on them and leave them for a while so you get the lovely juice, I also like them with Greek yoghurt, yum.

My dad used to eat strawberry and sugar sandwiches.
We did have sugar on strawberries.

I don't now as ripe ones are sweet enough, and I only buy them in season anyway.

I remember appples usually being a choice of sharp Granny Smiths or bland, woolly Golden Delicious in the 80s.

DH and I argue this each year.
I leave them out to be picked at and eaten soon after purchase.
DH puts them in the fridge "to make them last" except that the outcome is they are too cold to bite into and lose their flavour and they get forgotten about and turn to mush.

The best strawberries are the ones in the garden that survived the slugs, and eaten warm from the sun 3 seconds after being picked.

All of this. Sun warmed just picked strawberries are like a different fruit!

Oh yes woolly golden delicious weren’t good. Much prefer a crisp Braeburn these days

We tipped them in icing sugar.

Balsamic vinegar. You're welcome.

We had sugar on everything. Yorkshire pudding before a roast dinner. Sugar sandwiches. Sticks of rhubarb dipped in sugar.
I only use sugar in baking now. I do add a teaspoon of honey to my porridge though.

Lemon juice and black pepper

Yes always with cream and sugar as a child. Still remember the Canderel advert.
Not these days though, I just have them as they are. However a little sugar didn't hurt us back then and there was not near as much ultra processed crap dominating our diet.

Yes, Apple choice was more limited. Think we fad cox’s as well.i remember going to university and the local co-op had large russet apples. Delicious.

I always add a bit of sugar.

That's how they were served when I was a child too. I avoid buying them out of season (which is longer now anyway) as much as I can but the dc really wanted some in winter so I served with a sprinkle of sugar. I forgot how the sugar draws out some of the strawberry juices which mixes with the cream! So every now and then I do add a little bit of sugar.

Went all through the responses to see if anyone had said black pepper, it doesn't seem to be well known! About 15 years ago I had a strawberry pannacotta at a restaurant which included black pepper and it was a revelation, often use pepper on them now

We used to bite the tips off and dip the strawberries in a bowl of sugar. They were nice but very gritty 🥴. I think now that lots of things are advertised as low sugar, it makes me feel weird to imagine essentially eating it by the teaspoon (and I have never fancied the sugar sandwiches my dad used to eat in the 50s!) but as a treat I think it’s fine. Perhaps strawberries were less sweet in the past but I definitely remember them having more flavour than now, unless you get expensive ones I find them quite watery. And for some reason they make my fridge smell horrible even though they’re fresh and firm!

We had sugar on strawberries growing up. We wouldn't even think about it now, and couldn't as we don't have a bag of sugar in the house. I might be wrong, but I think a lot less of us have sugar in tea and coffee now - that's another thing I was brought up with, and wouldn't even consider it now.