Le Roman de la Fraise – The Story of the Strawberry

In 1712, King Louis XIV sent French spy François Amadée Frézier on a two-year journey to map the coasts of present-day Chile and Peru. This was the height of la renaissance and Frézier was certainly a renaissance man with skills in cartography, drawing, botany, sailing, and a passion for studying the world. At a market in Concepción, Chile, he encountered large white strawberries, las frutillas, that captured his imagination. In his French homeland, he had only seen small red wild strawberries but these were entirely different – “the size of a chicken’s egg”, white with red akènes and foliage of a light green color. He visited the hill where they grew, mapped the location, and acquired several plants to bring back to France, which he kept alive on the two-month journey home with a special allotment of fresh water. Upon arrival, he distributed the five surviving plants to various botanists throughout the country. Try as they may, however, none of the plants would consistently bare fruit. It wasn’t until a gardener in Plougastel crossed the white strawberry with a small red variety that had been brought from Virginia that the large, red, juicy fruit we know and love today came into being. 

 As a native of Plougastel, home of the Strawberry Museum, writer Chloé Batissou was well aware of this history. She and I used Frézier’s journals and maps to visit present-day cultivators of la frutilla along the Cordillera Nahuelbuta in Chile as well as strawberry producers in and around Plougastel, France. The resulting book, Le Roman de la Fraise: 300 Ans d’Aventures was published by Françoise Livenec Editions in 2014.