What does “der Strunk” mean in German?

Der Strunk is the stubby stem-and-leaf crown at the top of a strawberry — the part most people pull off before washing. In German home cooking, that’s done the wrong way around. Leave the Strunk on while the berries are under the tap; the crown seals the entry point and stops the fruit from soaking up water. Remove it only after washing, and the strawberry still tastes like a strawberry.

The word itself comes from Middle High German strunc, meaning a plant stump or stalk, and is the same term used for the tough core left in a cabbage head (Kohlstrunk) after the leaves are stripped. It carries a slightly agricultural register — you won’t find it in a phrasebook — but any German cook reaches for it naturally. In the clip the speaker states it plainly: “Erdbeeren wascht ihr auf jeden Fall mit Strunk” — wash your strawberries with the hull on, every time — then explains that without it the berry waterloggs and tastes of nothing.