About 4 books ago, or 4 weeks, if I am to be honest, I was reading a book called Black Roses by Jane Thynne. It was written from the perspective of an upper class British 20 year old girl who runs away to 1933 Berlin to become an actress. In the story, the author describes aspects of 1933 Berlin, and one paragraph in particular that stood out for me was about the season for white asparagus. The writer describes how the month was a mild April and every restaurant was serving it, in soup, with vinaigrette, with white sauce, and so on.
Fresh white asparagus is a foreign concept for us down in South Africa. We have the season for green asparagus, and the expensive imported spears, but white asparagus comes to us in tins.
Well, no sooner had I read about German white asparagus, did I see them for sale at the market down the road- somewhat phallic in appearance, (if I may be blunt…) so very different to what we get in tins. These were quite pretty, if I have another look at the photos’ I took- a bit of pink, a tinge of dark purple.
Just after seeing them at the market, Alsacienne asparagus, also known as Spargel, came up as a topic of discussion at my French class. They are very seasonal, and Spargel is considered a must do during its season. Well, the very next week I stopped at the market on Marne (I cross it every day en route to my French classes), and bought 1kilogram.
That afternoon when I was waiting at school for Beth to finish with her extra French class, we chatted about Spargel. As I had never cooked it, I was under the impression you could just cook it like green asparagus, but it turns out you have to peel the Spargel, to remove the fibrous outer layer.
Once it is peeled, cut off the bottom 2cm of each spear- these are dry, and then place them in a pan of simmering salted water, with a slice or 2 of lemon, and boil it for between 5 and 10 minutes, depending on how thick the spears are, and how soft you want them. It’s a tight line between too fibrous and chewy, or too soft, resembling the tinned variety.
What you do with it once it is cooked is what makes it special. I would love to have it with hollandaise sauce, but I’m not sure Anton would love all that butter. Besides, making hollandaise it not as quick and easy as making a Mustard and Parsley Vinaigrette. You can use mayonnaise as well, but for just you, I’m going to throw in my Mustard Vinaigrette recipe.
Mustard & Parsley Vinaigrette:
- 1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- 1 tablespoon Honey
- 100ml olive oil
- 50-80ml white wine vinegar
- Salt & fresh ground black pepper
- 1 bunch of parsley, chopped
Mix the mustard and honey together, and slowly drizzle the olive oil in, forming an emulsion- make sure you combine the oil into the mustard.
Once all the oil has been added, slowly add the vinegar- use as much as you like. I love anything acidic and tart, so I tend to use more than less.
Add salt and pepper to your taste, and lastly thrown in a handful of chopped parsley.
Drizzle it over the hot asparagus, serve either hot or cold.
Because we live where we do, smoked pork is very common, so I prepared our dinner with a boiled ham hock, and what should have been buttery potatoes, but since I did not have enough potatoes, I cut up a baguette instead.
I was quite surprised at how expensive it was to buy. I paid 6€ for shorter thicker spears, and the taller spears were 8€ per kilogram. A week after my initial purchase, I bought more from a supermarket, which were cheaper, but I realised later that they were not Alsacienne in origon, and they were definitely not as delicious. Since my first market purchase, Anton has discovered that the Egg Man at his office also sells the asparagus, so in a bid to support somebody very local; we will buy from him, every week until his supply finishes.
One of the aspects that I love about Strasbourg is its location on the border of Germany. This comes with its own set of confusing bits sometimes, but Alsace is unique in the fact that its diversity spans two very different cultures. In a way, we have the best of both worlds, German beer, delicate delicious French white wine, efficiency, gourmet food, sausages (;-)). However, for all the markets in town, I refuse point blank to buy Kohlrabi, and Swedes. That’s just gross.
Pinot, Bretzels, and Cathedrals 