Savour different varieties of strawberries at a festival in Bandra
Come Saturday morning and a van packed with 50 kg of strawberries will make its way from Mahabaleshwar to Mumbai for a festival hosted in its honour. As the organiser Niraj Agarwal informs us, the plucking season is from December to May, so March is the perfect time to bring in fresh strawberries and bid farewell to the sweet-sour fruit.
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The Mumbai Strawberry Fest will feature fresh strawberries from the farms and also play host to food stalls featuring home chefs and food startups. Milkshakes, ice creams, scones with jam - all with the fruit as the hero, of course - will be on offer. Agarwal tells us there are also plans to host a strawberry eating competition.
The red fruit is said to have been a hybrid first cultivated in Brittany, France, in the mid-18th century. It made its way to the then British summer capital, Mahabaleshwar, soon after.
Shaliwan Subhedar Sabale, who owns a one-acre strawberry farm and will have a stall at the festival, says the Nabila variety is the most profitable for farmers as it gives the maximum yield. Sweet Charlie is the oldest variety and hence continues to be cultivated, while Cama Rosa is the smallest strawberry type and also the sweetest. All three types will be available at the festival, and Sabale agrees that such a festival introduces more people to the fruit in its raw form, and benefits farmers too.
Shaliwan Subhedar Sabale
A huge chunk of the Mahabaleshwar harvest is transported to Kolkata, Surat, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, though "sometimes if the yield is too much, we send off a portion of the fruits to be crushed and turned into jams and squashes," he explains. Sabale shares that the transport proves to be a challenge.
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A strawberry farm in Mahabaleshwar
"Winter is the season for plucking, and the start of summer means more risk during transportation - the fruit could go limp or get bruised during travel." There ideally should be an air-conditioned transporting system, which is yet to be introduced. For now though, Sabale is happy his yield will probably have many more takers thanks to the festival.
Agarwal adds that a mango festival is possibly next on the cards.
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