NEED
A GREAT, EXPERIENCED ENGLISH TEACHER OR PERSONAL TUTOR?
Contact
Teacher Jack!
[Convenient New Feature: ARCHIVE of All Articles]
STRAWBERRIES CAN COST USD$350 A PIECE
Bijin-Hime, aka “Beautiful Princess,” is a Japanese strawberry variety that is perfectly shaped and colored and offers an unmatched flavor. But those cloned by Mikio Okuda cost up to USD$350 per berry, making them one of the world’s most expensive fruits.
Grown from clones, developed over 15 years of trial and error by Mikio Okuda, a Japanese farmer with 45 years of experience growing strawberries, these special Bijin-Hime strawberries are astonishing. The largest fruits are about the size of tennis balls and weigh around 100 grams each, but it is not just their size that makes the “Beautiful Princess” so special. It is their unexpected sweetness.
Generally, the larger a strawberry is, the less flavor and sweetness it has, but that is certainly not the case with Okuda’s Bijin-Hime strawberries. Measured on the Brix scale of sweetness, they are rated at 13 degrees, which makes them considerably sweeter than a 10-degree Brix standard strawberry, and they also have a unique flavor similar to roses.
The texture of Bijin-Hime strawberries is said to be a perfect balance between soft and firm, and the vibrant red color of its shiny skin permeates all the way to its center. It also lacks the acidity and strange after-taste that one sometimes gets from supermarket varieties.
Like many other Japanese strawberry growers, Mikio Okuda grows his “Beautiful Princess” variety during the winter months, carefully monitoring the temperature of the soil and the air inside his greenhouses at Okuda Farms, in Gifu Prefecture. Slow ripening may be one of the secrets behind the sweetness and intense flavor of this “Beautiful Princess,” but Okuda refuses to give out too much secret information. And for good reason.
After spending 15 years cross-breeding strawberries to create his Bijin-Hime, Mikio Okuda has finally achieved what he set out to do – create a large, perfectly-shaped strawberry that also provides excellent flavor. The process is still not perfect, though, as some of the fruits tend to come out round, like fleshy globes. Those are not fit for high-end sale. Okuda can only produce around 500 market-worthy strawberries per year.
In a country where quality fruits are literally worth their weight in gold (if not more), Mikio Okuda’s “Beautiful Princess” strawberries are highly sought-after. At one auction, a single, particularly large Bijin-Hime strawberry sold for ¥50,000 (USD$350). Some sources report that a more expensive one sold for USD$500, but we have not found any proof of that. Still, USD$350 for a single strawberry is astonishing.
Interestingly, these special Bijin-Hime strawberry plants are all clones of the original plant developed by Mikio Okuda; other growers cannot simply grow their own “Beautiful Princesses” from their strawberry seeds. Okuda, after all his hard work, controls the market on these remarkable Bijin-Hime beauties. So, if you want one, you will need your credit card.
LEARNING TOOLS
English questions about this article or about English in general?
Ask Teacher Jack at: asktjack1@gmail.com
CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PAGES:
ARCHIVE/JOKES TEACHER JACK IDIOMS ENGLISH FACTS
NEED A GREAT, EXPERIENCED ENGLISH TEACHER OR PERSONAL TUTOR? Contact Teacher Jack!
Facebook: Full Spectrum English Tutor Teacher Jack
ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW AT
Offbeat English
https://linggle-offbeatenglish.blogspot.com/
COME BACK SOON!
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.producereport.com%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Ffield%2Fimage%2Fv2-1c950e8411d882969efd879075804f6c_hd.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=366240596bdce0b0d9c22d0fac7d18d49a24962d62e2f6743daaf5d5786a2d30&ipo=images