Chocolate Covered Strawberries- a seasonal pleasure a la Paris Match.

Why Paris Match? These were ridiculously popular in the '80's, along with the Style Council (and dried porcini mushrooms). And I made them all the time in Paris in the '80's too. It's a long Springtime in Greece: weeks pass from the time the crispest and hardest apples, the most buttery pears fill the market tables, and when the truly intimidating wealth of summer fruits hits. Cherries and apricots are only just now here. For the last two months, at least, it has been the post peak winter fruits, imported pineapples and bananas, and of course, the reliable strawberry. 

Reliable? Not an exciting word. Well, they are not a very exciting fruit- uniform, pretty, tasty. Not the frais du bois as big as a kindergartner's pinky nail that they serve, unadorned, in a Paris summer (my grandfather ordered whipped cream on the side, and perhaps as he was a veteran of the second world war they obliged him very warmly). But their color alone catches the eye and gets us ready for the riot of June. Fruits here are so intensely flavored that these berries are more of a starter fruit. Most that we eat, we eat covered in chocolate. These are at once easier than they look, and trickier. Easier in that they look so fabulous but take no longer to make than doing up a tea tray does, and trickier in that two or three things could go wrong. The strawberries need to be completely dry (chocolate does not stick well to damp things), and the chocolate needs to be melted with a little care (but not much).

Here they are, in three simple steps:

For each 500 g/ 1 lb berries, we will need at least 200 g/ 7 oz. dark chocolate. Maybe have more standing by.

1. Make sure your rinsed clean strawberries are completely dry:
Wash the strawberries, shake them gently to let most of the water drip away, and put them on some paper towels, with a kitchen towel underneath. Leave some space between the strawberries:

If you have plenty of time and the day is breezy, set them out on the balcony in a shady place to dry completely. Otherwise, dry them with a blow dryer on a cool-ish setting.

2. Temper your chocolate (sort of):
There is an exact process called tempering that is worth doing if you are making serious confectionery, but these are supposed to be a casual, spontaneous treat. Still, an informal stab at tempering makes an enormous difference in the final product, and takes really no extra time. Break up 2/3 of the chocolate into small pieces and melt them, either in the microwave in careful stages, stirring in between, or over simmering water, likewise stirring all the while. 2 things can go very wrong- the chocolate can easily burn, making chalky lumps that will not melt back into the whole, or it can come into contact with a tiny amount of water (from a dripping wet strawberry, for instance), making it "seize" into a lumpy mass which can only then be turned into a sauce with the addition of lots more liquid (heavy cream and some coffee, some rum...).

Once we have a bowl of melted chocolate that is warm (but hopefully not hot), we put the rest of the chocolate in, keeping it in one piece. As we stir, the warm chocolate will melt the solid chocolate, and the constant agitation, the cooling from the new piece of chocolate, and the invisible structure of the new piece of chocolate will encourage the chocolate to set up with a fine texture (a snap as you bite through it into the juicy strawberry) and a glossy surface. When the new piece is melted into the whole, touch some to your bottom lip. It should feel cool. If it feels a bit warm, put it into the freezer for 30 seconds, take it out and stir, and keep doing this (3 or 4 times I sometimes do this) until it is still liquid, but feels cool.

3. Dip the strawberries:
When I made this batch, I was in Athens and in a hurry to bring them to someone, and so when the solid chocolate melted, I figured it must be ready. I dipped three:

and noticed they seemed slow to set. Tempered chocolate already starts to firm up in just a minute. I put the bowl into the freezer and took it out to stir it, doing this two more times, and proceeded with the rest of the batch with the barely cool, still liquid chocolate. See those strawberries on the left whose chocolate coating is still wet? Those are the first three strawberries. Those on the right, dipped (much later) in chocolate at a cooler temperature set up faster, prettier and firmer. The first ones eventually set, with the help of the refrigerator, but the chocolate was chalky in the mouth and dull in appearance. Even with the 2-step melting, this is one of the easiest and most impressive things you can make that is seasonal, stunning, and fun (and vegan). We have them very, very often in the season and no one ever gets tired of them.