 | I tried a new vegetable. |
White asparagus is ragingly popular in France during the late spring and early summer months. The first time I saw it in my local market, I wondered what misfortune had occurred that produced fat white asparagus. I hoped the farmers could sell enough to recoup their losses. Turns out, it was no accident--the French love this stuff.
I watched white asparagus season go by twice before deciding to try it. I like asparagus, but I just couldn’t see the benefit of a white vegetable. Then I got FOMO and gave it a shot.
I was cautious because I asked a French friend if she cooked them and she said, no, it gives you bluh bluh bluh. I didn’t understand bluh bluh bluh, so she made motions indicating a rapid evacuation of the bowels. Ah. I see. Go easy on the white asparagus.
My first mistake was in choosing my white asparagus spears. With green (or with purple--here’s looking at you, California) I like the tender slender ones. Therefore, I chose the slimmest white asparagus and then came home and googled a recipe (wrong order obv) and learned that the thickest ones are best. Oops. Too late now.
The recipe said I should hack off the woody lower stems (why don’t they just cut them off there and not sell me something I’m going to throw away?) and then peel off the outer layers. The recipe also said I could save the woody butts for making soup, but nobody’s got time for that. I peeled them with a small knife, which wasn’t too difficult since the outer layer is pretty obvious.
I watched white asparagus season go by twice before deciding to try it. I like asparagus, but I just couldn’t see the benefit of a white vegetable. Then I got FOMO and gave it a shot.
I was cautious because I asked a French friend if she cooked them and she said, no, it gives you bluh bluh bluh. I didn’t understand bluh bluh bluh, so she made motions indicating a rapid evacuation of the bowels. Ah. I see. Go easy on the white asparagus.
My first mistake was in choosing my white asparagus spears. With green (or with purple--here’s looking at you, California) I like the tender slender ones. Therefore, I chose the slimmest white asparagus and then came home and googled a recipe (wrong order obv) and learned that the thickest ones are best. Oops. Too late now.
The recipe said I should hack off the woody lower stems (why don’t they just cut them off there and not sell me something I’m going to throw away?) and then peel off the outer layers. The recipe also said I could save the woody butts for making soup, but nobody’s got time for that. I peeled them with a small knife, which wasn’t too difficult since the outer layer is pretty obvious.
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Then I boiled them for 17 minutes (that’s what my rice timer had left on it and the recipe said 5-30 minutes so it seemed like a good compromise) in water, butter, salt, and lemon juice. After I drained them, I sprinkled a little seasoned salt on them.
The taste test? I thought they were okay, but a weird combination of mushy and hard-to-cut. Sam said he preferred green asparagus, and Kid 3 said they tasted like something I can’t print here, followed by no offense, mom, so I forgave him. He’s the third kid so I pretty much let him do whatever he wants, including be brutally honest about vegetables I’ve cooked.
So, I won’t be cooking white asparagus again. Funny, I’d be willing to try it in a restaurant, but they haven’t shown up on any restaurant menus I’ve seen, in spite of being a big seasonal hit. They do, however, have beaujolais nouveau season in restaurants, a wine served in November, so I’ll just have that.
The taste test? I thought they were okay, but a weird combination of mushy and hard-to-cut. Sam said he preferred green asparagus, and Kid 3 said they tasted like something I can’t print here, followed by no offense, mom, so I forgave him. He’s the third kid so I pretty much let him do whatever he wants, including be brutally honest about vegetables I’ve cooked.
So, I won’t be cooking white asparagus again. Funny, I’d be willing to try it in a restaurant, but they haven’t shown up on any restaurant menus I’ve seen, in spite of being a big seasonal hit. They do, however, have beaujolais nouveau season in restaurants, a wine served in November, so I’ll just have that.
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Have you tried white asparagus? Your thoughts?