Strawberries are seasonal fruits. In Japan, these fruits are grown in nature in the spring between April and June. However, certain habits can sometimes change the way food is consumed and produced, and this is the case with strawberries through holidays in Japan.
Japan is not particularly a Christian country but, under the influence of the United States after the Second World War, the Christmas tradition quickly imposed itself thanks to its exchanges of gifts, greeting cards and its joyful atmosphere. The Ninth Symphony, later renamed “Ode to Joy” by Beethoven, is one of the most played arias of the period. With these key elements, Christmas is therefore closer to “romance” than “celebration of the family” as it is perceived in the West.
If a romantic meal in a restaurant is perfect for a nice Christmas evening, KFC marketing, with its Colonel Sanders dressed as Santa Claus, has also succeeded in establishing fried chicken as a Christmas symbol in Japan. So much so that the company is overwhelmed during this period. But when it comes to food, what will interest us the most here is the peak of strawberry consumption between December and May.
Indeed, the most popular Christmas cake is undoubtedly the “fraisier” (or strawberry cake). A cake with a spongy dough, fresh cream and strawberries in the heart and topped with many strawberries. Its sweet taste, highlighting the strawberries, is for a lot on why this cake is so popular, but one of the main reasons remains that its red and white colors are simply reminiscent of traditional Christmas tones and pair perfectly with decorations while offering an appetizing and luxurious spectacle.
In fact, the popularity of the “Japanese Christmas cake” has become such that the emoji (Japanese variant of emoticons that preceded them and come from the USA) representing a cake is a strawberry cake 🍰. And since this cake is delicious and always makes you want to eat strawberries again, demand still explodes after the Christmas period until it reaches its standard level in April.
To satisfy the demand, the greenhouses had to replicate the conditions of spring in order to grow strawberries in winter, thus allowing other amateurs to access this fruit out of season and, therefore, increasing demand again. Eating strawberries in winter is, by the way, a very good idea for health thanks to their richness in vitamins C and manganese.
To conclude, we just hope that you can spend the holiday season with your loved ones to enjoy the end of 2021 and the start of 2022, whether if you celebrate Christmas, anything else or nothing in particular.
“Berry” Christmas to everyone and see you soon with Tomofarm strawberries in another holiday of Vietnam, the Tet holiday! 🍓🍓🍓
