Asparagus--Totally OT to Mark Lipton

The best asparagus I have had in the US is a tiny baby white variety. It is very tender and flavorful. Unfortunately is is available only for a short time in the spring and is very expensive. Then you have to have it shipped by overnight air. Much of the asparagus sold in grocery stores is too old and has a skin nearly tough enough to use as dental floss. I did find some very fresh premium giant asparagus from California recently. Alas it was green, as the white is seldom seen in many parts of the US. I cut off the tough ends and feed them to the parrot. Then I peel the green skin away and steam the asparagus. I then dress it with salt, white pepper, and J. Leblanc's Huile de Pistache. Leblanc's nut oils are difficult to find in the US, but they are of extremely high quality and worth the premium price. Then I add a bit of good bread crumbs. I like to crumble TartufLanghe's Grissini Con Tartufo for the crumbs. They have a nice truffle flavor. Where I live, both the nut oil and bread sticks have to be ordered in. I usually serve the asparagus alone without wine unless I have something opened that might be a good match. Of course if you are serving several people you can open several bottles of wine including one to match the asparagus.

And don't forget to try mushrooms risotto :)

Vilco

Salut/Hi Vilco,

le/on Sun, 25 Apr 2004 15:01:18 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

Ah... THAT's one we know already, as we have a lot of cepes (porcini) in this neck of the woods.

We have tried a number now, and find that in general they are VERY white wine friendly. The great problem from our point of view, though, is that they're singularly ill suited to our way of entertaining clients, as we serve soup, entree, main course, cheese and pud. We mostly don't eat the "even" courses, and I don't think I could bear not to eat a risotto. Also, as we eat the soup, it means that the timing of the second (risotto) would be tricky. I suppose that we should investigate more substantial ones as main course dishes. That would work, though it would condemn one of us to spend the time in the kitchen on our own, instead of being with our guests as we prefer.

Hello Ian,

Thanks for the recipe, as well to all who followed up with their own. Realizing that it is a bit off topic, I just too intrigued - particularily by the "modesty forbids..." line : )

But to bring it back on topic slightly, I have not tried a Bergerac, to my recollection, and was thinking this would pair nicely with something such as a Gruner Veltliner, New Zealand SB (we have tried some pretty nice ones recently), or one of the local Semillons - the joy of experimentation.

Thanks again, Tom AZ

Salut/Hi Tom AZ,

le/on Sun, 25 Apr 2004 20:00:25 -0700, tu disais/you said:-

Well, it's a bit indelicate to say "I think this dish I've just cooked was wonderful".

Indeed. I think a good Gruner Veltliner would be glorious with it. As for a NZ Sauvignon, I also suspect it would be an excellent match, though I'm hard put to it to say whether I'd want one of the typical "grassy" ones, or one with a bit more complexity from some barrel aging. When you see me talking abot a Bergerac you can think "good (but not great)" Bordeaux, if you want a sort of reference point. They _aren't_ exactly the same, although the varieties that may be used are identical, but I'd say they overlap quite widely.

Quiches are funny beasts, in fact. You can have them very substantial and filling, if you use lots of cheese or other strongly flavoured fillings, and they're gorgeous like that as a main course with perhaps a salad, or even with vegetables. At the other extreme, one can make them almost ethereal with the most delicate seasonings, and they make a perfect starter before quite a substantial main course. What's more they're surprisingly wine friendly, give "the egg"'s reputation for wine _un_friendliness.

Hi, Ian - We will have to discuss this topic offline. The strong Euro has made this a distinct possibility.

Tom S

Her in the south of Holland, due to the composition of the soil in this particulary part of the country, the white asparagus is very well known. We have this traditional local receipt for white asparagus which is very simple. Bash some hard boiled eggs, chop some cooked ham and melt some butter. pour out the butter and sprinkle the chopped ham and boiled egg over the asparagus, and pick up the asparagus at the bottom with your fingertip and hold up with your fork halfway the asparagus. than put the tip in your mouth....heavenly...

Serve Costamolino, a Vermentino from Argiolas from Sardinia....the only non local ingredient for this happening I will accept... ;-)

Ciao, Gio

Having seen that there are several asparagus lovers here, does anyone have a foolproof way of freezing the lovely wild woodland asparagus that are available in France from now for the next month or so? When Barbara and I first started spending the mid-May to mid-June period in France, we couldn't find anything enjoyable about French asparagus. The white stuff was dire, as was the purple stuff, while the green asparagus was mediocre when compared with the English variety. Then, a couple of years ago, we discovered the small wild woodland variety. It beat anything we had ever tasted before - and the simpler the cooking, the finer the taste. It is better than anything we've tasted before. The only question is how can we preserve it so that we can enjoy it throughout the year? Freezing would seem to be an obvious solution if only we could find a way to avoid it going soggy. Sojourner

If it's anything like the regular asparagus in texture, I'd say forget it. It'll get mooshy with freezing. :^(

Tom S

Salut/Hi Sojourner,

le/on Mon, 03 May 2004 23:45:35 +0100, tu disais/you said:-

Yup. Don't.

Sorry, John, but although you can freeze them, without too much loss in flavour, the texture's buggered - to use a technical expression.

Challenge.

Come here and say that again. We grow our own green asparagus and find it easily as good as any we grew in Britain, arguably better. In fact as I write, we're looking at enough to eat tonight!

I agree that white and purple don't taste as good as green (a personal opinion which is NOT shared by many here), but honestly we have no problem at all with the green (neither do the odd lucky clients who happen to come on a day when we serve them). I'd go further, and say that the green I buy at Brive market freshly gathered from local producers is far and away better than any asparagus I ever managed to buy in the UK, not that I did get much, as it was so frightful.

It beat anything we had ever tasted before - >and the simpler the cooking, the finer the taste.

True of many (if not all) of the best vegetables. New potatoes, - a good tasty variety like Belle de Fontenay, Charlotte or, Ratte, freshly dug and simply cooked in their skins, and then served with lashings of good farm butter is unbeatable.

BAD thing. Enjoy each delight in its season. (This is a subject about which CS Lewis talked eloquently in his "Venus" SF story, forget the name).

This is entirely OT and skip it if you wish, but I believe passionately that as a species we NEED variety and we NEED to mark the changing seasons with changing diet. I've already mentioned new potatoes, but I could have talked about asparagus (naturally) broad (US field) beans, green peas, tomatoes, purple sprouting brocolli, brussels sprouts, and many many other delights, which if you ONLY eat in season are looked forward to avidly. If you eat frozen and preserved foods throughout the year, you LOSE this sense of keen anticipation and delight, and the seasons become "flattened out".

Just heard something on CBC Radio on Asparagus.... According to them, the chemical which causes the raunchy smell when answering the call of nature, is one very much on topic for this group.... Mercaptin. who knew?

Cheers Mathew

them, the

There are number of mercaptans, very similar to alcohols in formula with oxygen replaced by sulfur. A large number, especially of the simpler ones, are pretty foul smelling but not all: furfuryl mercaptan is reputed to a large component of the smell of coffee.

As Jim already said, mercaptans (thiols) are an entire class of molecule. In addition, while mercaptans may account for *some* of the smell, the major component is dimethyl sulfide -- not a mercaptan, but a related sulfide. I'm afraid that they got the wrong end of the stick on that one...

Mark Lipton

Salut/Hi Mark Lipton,

le/on Thu, 06 May 2004 15:22:52 -0500, tu disais/you said:-

About par for the course for the media, Mark. In the last year, or so, I'm afraid that they have badly let us all down. One expects it for scientific matters (as in this case), but the amount of censorship, misinformation, disinformation and downright lies that we've all been subject to is nothing less than scandalous. While I'm not excluding the media in France and in the UK, I'm afraid that what I've seen from the USA is a long way from the standards of probity that you have every right to expect.

Salut/Hi Sojourner,

As a follow up to my last.

le/on Mon, 03 May 2004 23:45:35 +0100, tu disais/you said:-

When we went into our local vegetable and fruit shop ("local" is pretty relative, as it's 25 miles away) they had - quel coincidence - some wild woodland asparagus, so I dug deep into my pocket and bought a little bunch.

I'd agree that it's wonderful, and as so often is the case, the simpler the better. We just cooked it in the asparagus kettle with some salted water, and compared it with our own green asparagus. Yes it was better, without a doubt, though I'm not sure it was €2.60 better. We just served it - as it deserved - with a little melted slghtly salted butter over it and ate it with our fingers. A delight. But I'm sure you'll not be able to preserve it by freezing.