Strawberries, which are at their peak from spring to midsummer, are plump, red, juicy, and intensely sweet when ripe. Select unbruised, slightly soft berries with a deep color and an inviting fragrance. Store unwashed and loosely covered in a single layer on a tray or platter lined with paper towels in the refrigerator for a few days. Substitute berries frozen without syrup when fresh are not available.
To hull strawberries:
Use a strawberry huller, a tweezerlike device with rounded, sharp edges that are inserted into the stem end of the berry, then are squeezed and removed to extract the stem and green cap.For other berry varieties, see blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cranberries, fraises des bois, gooseberries, loganberries, and raspberries.