this little observation sparked what is now a reality....
for those who do not grow up in continental europe....it would be difficult to imagine why asparagus is much loved and is on the top menu for most especially during the months from about April to mid June. Spargel (as it is called in German) is in season only for these months every year and it is apparently quite a big event.....vegetable stalls and supermarkets are stocked full of fresh asparagus especially the white ones that grow in the sand. these big white shoots could cost about 8 euros a kilo, and the more you purchase the cheaper they get.
Nicole my new flatmate is a fan of spargel and i am often amazed by her enthusiasm over the somewhat plain vege. coming from the city of Aachen where she is used to buying spargels grown by local producers....she was rather dismayed that the ones you could get here in T?bingen are imported from Spain. nonetheless she is cooking them again today and making the most of the fading spargel season.
preparing spargel can be a pain. unlike the green asparagus i am used to eating, the white ones are thick and rather tough. one is recommended to eat them when they are fresh, ie. on the day they are bought, otherwise, they have to be left covered in a damp towel over night to keep them moist. first, their skins must be peeled (unless of course you prefer to have them as well), and then the naked spargels are boiled in a huge pot of boiling water. some use the peels to make a broth for a soup to go with the spargel meal, others prefer to compost it as fertilisers. whatever the preference, spargels must be done just right....not over done such that they are soggy, nor too raw. the traditional way of consuming this vege which is slightly bitter in taste, is to eat it with slices of cooked ham which are wrapped around the spargels and topped with sauce hollandaise or melted butter. interestingly, Nicole has some boiled potatoes and a boiled egg to go with it all. i suppose, in that combination, white asparagus doesn't taste too bad.
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