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Ten Things To Know About Asparagus
Poor asparagus. Barely does this harbinger of spring get a few days to bask in the
May sunshine before it’s clipped, cut, blanched, steamed, grilled, roasted, nuked, and smothered with love.
But let us not muse upon that too long. Let us instead focus on ourselves — which we’re really better at, anyway — and our enjoyment of the delicate, oh-so-seasonal flavor of these tender shoots. 1. The Season: Asparagus harvest in the Chesapeake region begins in early May and ends in early June, when the growers will let the remaining stalks go to flower and seed. (This year is running a little late.) And while it’s hard to hold off, the best asparagus occurs a few weeks into the season, when the spears are both fat and tender. As one farmer at the market put it, “we send them first little woody ones up to New York City, where they don’t know no better.” 2. Look for Fresh, Fresh, Fresh. Make sure the purple tips (the buds) are close together and closed tightly. Look for stalks that are smooth and not fluted. Choose stalks that are not woody, your fingernail should easily pierce the skin. Asparagus stalks should be at least two-thirds green (vs. white). At the farmer’s markets, you’ll find them loose in bins, (so you get to choose your own stalks) or bound up in bunches, generally a pound or more. Some savvy farmers will have their bunches sitting in water like cut flowers; a good move. 3. Stalking the Stores: Where to find it. It’s hard to beat farmer’s markets for fresh asparagus. For a list of Maryland farmer’s markets, click here. Some supermarkets (like Graul’s) also feature local asparagus in season, and it’s one of the first offerings at produce stands as they open up for the year.
4.
Storing the Stalks. How to keep it fresh. Keep it cool, use it quickly. According to the Victory Garden Cookbook (my veggie tales bible), you can preserve the sugar in the stalk by storing asparagus spears upright in one inch of water in your refrigerator. Asparagus stored at 32º loses half its sugar in two weeks. Don’t leave it in water at room temperature. At 86º, half the sugar is gone in just half a day (another reason to get to the farmer’s market early). No room for upright? Wrap the ends in wet paper towel, put in a plastic bag and refrigerate. 5. Are You a
Snapper or a Peeler?
There are two ways to prep asparagus: bend the stalk until it snaps; it will snap easily at the tender area and you can throw away the tough part, or save for soup. Other, more intelligent folks will peel the stem instead: Take a small snarp paring knife. Insert at the base of the stalk under the woody skin and peel upwards. The cut will become thinner until it tapers off complely. You save a lot more asparagus this way. (Until recently and still upon occasion, I am a snapper — it’s faster and I am wasteful. I am trying to reform myself.) 6. Soak Off the Sand. Our asparagus around here tends to be grown in sandy soil, and the sand can linger on the spear without a thorough soaking. Trim the spears, fill a shallow baking dish with cold water, and roll the spear gently in the water. Do this two or three times until there’s no sign of sand left. Another test is to take a bite of the raw asparagus. Is there sand? Back to rinsing. 7. How Do I Cook Thee? There are many ways, but all of them involve speed and a light touch. A fast sauté, a quick steam, plunging into boiling water and then reducing to a simmer for four minutes. In every way, as soon as a fork can pierce the skin, you’re done. The aficionada at the market said that she microwaved for a few seconds, then roasted briefly in the oven. In every case, cook lightly so that asparagus is just tender and still a vibrant green. 8. Getting Sauced. Asparagus holds up to lots of lovely dressings and finishes — from butter, to lemon butter, to hollandaise, to vinaigrettes to ginger-and-soy, to whipped heavy cream and horseradish. Mm. It also works well in cheese and egg dishes. See recipes at the end of this article.
9. What Wine Goes with Asparagus? Get ready for this: None. According to my friends at the Hair O’ The Dog — who have every reason to try to sell me a nice bottle of something — two foods do not go with wine; vinegar and asparagus. Something about their chemical makeup turns wine into a metallic-flavored mess. Philip B., their food-and-wine pairing guy, said that people often wrongly blame the wine when it tastes lousy next to their salad or asparagus hollandaise. Better to enjoy your expensive wine, and then move onto your salad or asparagus dish. (I still can’t believe this is true, and intend to try it out this evening.) 10. What About the Stinky Pee? There is a not-so-surprising amount of discussion about this, but a surprising lack of consensus about why some suffer from stinky asparagus pee. Not everyone does. Here’s the most un-hyped intelligence I could find. According to webmd.com, in an article entitled Eau d’Asparagus “…not everyone has this experience. Your genetic makeup may determine whether your urine has the odor -- or whether you can actually smell it….Only some people appear to have the genes. In a group of 100 Brits, half produced it. In another study, 100% of French citizens produced it. And in a bizarre twist, even the ability to smell the stinky pee may be genetic — 10% of a group of 300 Israeli Jews could not detect the odor (Oy!). “In other words, a person's urine could smell, but he or she might not know it.” In any case, it’s not harmful, and makes for interesting dinner conversation. Cream of Asparagus Soup |
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