There are two main crops of raspberries in Australia, the summer crop which comes before Christmas and the Autumn crop which starts mid-March and ends early April. Outside these dates, Costas have done an unbelievably good job at delivering raspberries 12 months of the year but regardless, the big flush still comes at these two traditional peak periods. A lot of the Autumn varieties are somewhat smaller than the midsummer fruit which is both larger and redder in appearance.
However, I think the Autumn fruit is the best eating of the year. This week and probably the next one or two weeks will be the peak of the year for this berry. They won’t get any cheaper and won’t eat any better than right now. Don’t be overly concerned if the odd berry is slightly leaking, when I first started in this business the older customers would not buy them unless they were in fact leaking as this identified the fruit that was ripest. I don’t mean a mess of liquid in the punnet, just a small bit of moisture. Enjoy them now at their peak.
HOW TO PICK
Look for brightly-coloured raspberries with plump, blemish-free skin.
HOW TO STORE
Keep your raspberries in the fridge. Raspberries are highly perishable so use as soon as possible and only wash just before eating.
