Asparagus

[ardcarp]

A friend with and allotment has been supplying us with freshly culled asparagus over the past few weeks. Yum! More flavour than the shop-bought stuff. We prefer to eat it on its own (maybe as a starter) with just a bit of butter and salt. I know some people use it as just another veg with a main course.

[gradus]

Once it gets going there's no stopping asparagus but it can be tricky to keep weed-free. Ours was grown from seed (dead easy) but you need patience to reap the reward as it was 3 years before anything worthwhile was available. If I was starting again I'd buy plants. If you follow Bob Flowerdew make sure they're female plants as according to Bob they produce fewer but fatter stalks, this is contrary to the usual advice to choose male specimens because of their greater yield. You pays your money ...

[Flay]

It can be delicious raw when fresh. Chop it up to put in a salad, or just munch it there and then in the garden

[Count Boso]

A friend with and allotment has been supplying us with freshly culled asparagus over the past few weeks. Yum! More flavour than the shop-bought stuff. We prefer to eat it on its own (maybe as a starter) with just a bit of butter and salt. I know some people use it as just another veg with a main course.

Or a bit of grated Parmesan cheese rather than salt, as the cheese is already quite salty.

[vinteuil]

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... as far as eating is concerned, for asparagus I think the simpler the better. For me that means steamed, and then with butter; Mme v prefers them roasted in the oven, and then with a drizzle of olive oil and shavings of parmesan. The woodier bits might be incorporated in a risotto. But too many people seem to want to ponce about with asparagus, messing around with prosciutto and similar.

A nice white wine certainly helps.


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[cloughie]

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... as far as eating is concerned, for asparagus I think the simpler the better. For me that means steamed, and then with butter; Mme v prefers them roasted in the oven, and then with a drizzle of olive oil and shavings of parmesan. The woodier bits might be incorporated in a risotto. But too many people seem to want to ponce about with asparagus, messing around with prosciutto and similar.

A nice white wine certainly helps.


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A short burst in the microwave, then eaten straight or the smallest shaving of Parmesan - as for wine I used to favour Sauvignon Blanc, but more recently Viognier - 'Elegant Frog' from Sainsburys is very good!

[oddoneout]

The male/female issue isn't as straightforward as some seem to suggest, not least because the needs of commercial producers will be different from those of the domestic grower. There is some interesting reading in these

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/should-replace-female-asparagus-plants-male-plants-104973.html

http://living-mudflower.blogspot.com/2019/06/comparing-yield-of-female-asparagus-and.html

I grew my first asparagus from seed - Connovers Colossal - it was easy and the plants established well; they are much easier to handle as seedlings planted out from individual pots, the roots are a pain on larger plants, fragile and widespread. The plants gave a respectable crop and as I grew some each year for 3 years I didn't have too long to wait for reasonable pickings. My last allotment before I had to give up had a large established bed(a major reason why I took the plot on!) of a purple variety - I was never able to find out which as the plotholder couldn't remember even though it was a relatively new planting, but I'm pretty sure it was a modern hybrid. They were huge spears, and a prolific cropper. I was able to take surplus to work and raise donations for charity, and be very fussy about my own consumption. I don't like the tops as much as the main stem so I would take the tips off(more cash donations!) and still have a good usable length.
Weeds in the bed are a nuisance and so preparation before planting is important, and hand weeding before the spears appear to avoid damage. Once picking stops it's easier to get the hoe through, which also deals with the seedling plants if berries are produced.
A few weeks ago I got talking to an elderly gent in the Post Office queue who said that difficulties getting pickers and loss of the restaurant market due to Covid-19 meant that the 100 acres his family farm would usually harvest might be partly or wholly abandoned this year - with a lot of noughts in the income hit apparently.
Has anyone tried the blanched version that is apparently preferred on the continent?

[vinteuil]

Has anyone tried the blanched version that is apparently preferred on the continent?

... do you mean the different preferences for 'white' or 'green' asparagus? As far as I could make out there is a distinct preference for white asparagus in Germany, the Nordic countries, northern France - and a preference for green asparagus in southern France and other mediterranean countries. You might be able to draw a line like an isobar across the continent separating these taste preferences...

I've always preferred the green.

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[LMcD]

Thanks for the useful asparagus tips, folks!

[Flay]

Thanks for the useful asparagus tips, folks!

[oddoneout]

... do you mean the different preferences for 'white' or 'green' asparagus? As far as I could make out there is a distinct preference for white asparagus in Germany, the Nordic countries, northern France - and a preference for green asparagus in southern France and other mediterranean countries. You might be able to draw a line like an isobar across the continent separating these taste preferences...

I've always preferred the green.

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The Med countries have wild asparagus don't they, which is green. I was interested to read that the white asparagus needs peeling as it can be woody - I would have thought that the blanching process would have made/kept the spears tender as it does for things like seakale and chicory, but evidently not.

[ardcarp]

I've tried white asparagus in France and thought it a bit anaemic flavour-wise. But perhaps that's just synaesthesia.

Blimey two ae diphthongs in one post.

[Rjw]

My asparagus has finished for the year, the soup I made with the spears that were a little too long was sensational, so much flavour.

[Andrew]

My wife griddles it, with a little Normandy butter, putting a poached egg on top. Sprinkle with black pepper & off you go......... DELISH!