Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Asparagus

The season has begun, but our locally produced white asparagus is still too pricey to consider. In another week or so the price should be coming down and then we can indulge. In the meantime, I've been harvesting the green spears that grow wild out in the vineyard.

A new asparagus shoot pops up among the grape vines.

These aren't "wild asparagus" but regular domesticated spears that grow randomly out between the grape vines. I figure that seeds have been dispersed by wind or birds and plants have grown up from them over the years. There are several regular spots where I look for asparagus spears each year, and others pop up from time to time.

We had a nice salad of steamed asparagus a few days ago. All gathered by me during my walks with Callie.
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11 comments:

  1. Susan17 April, 2012 08:46

    Yum - proper green asparagus. I was surprised how quickly our local stuff came down in price. By the second week I could get it at €5/kg for the fat spears and €3.50 for the skinny.

    I think there is an asparagus stall turf war going on in Preuilly market.

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  2. Niall & Antoinette17 April, 2012 12:11

    Delicious! We can get green ones at the market in Le Grand Pressigny which isn't too far away from us -- sadly no vineyards round us to look for/harvest 'strays'.

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  3. Leon Sims17 April, 2012 13:54

    Unless I'm mistaken and surely Sue will correct me - white asparagus is not common in Melbourne but the green stuff is everywhere.

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  4. Mark17 April, 2012 14:10

    Fred prepared steam asparagus on Sunday as starter to our dinner. It was delicious!
    m.

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  5. Cubby17 April, 2012 15:57

    Greg and I have been eating asparagus like fiends this spring. We love it. Finding some growing while out and about would be so cool.

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  6. Ellen Lebelle17 April, 2012 16:26

    I prefer the green, but I caved in and bought some white tips at the market the other day. The price never comes down far enough in the Paris area.

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  7. Pollygarter17 April, 2012 18:40

    I guess green asparagus must be an anglo-saxon habit. Lovely stuff! I was served white asparagus in Holland once that I'm sure was out of a tin. Ptui!

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  8. Moving with Mitchell17 April, 2012 20:09

    Wonderful photo. I had never had white asparagus until coming here to Spain. I love it. (But maybe I should be checking the price...)

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  9. Ur-spo18 April, 2012 06:14

    I used to grow asparegus. good things to do indeed.

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  10. Ken Broadhurst18 April, 2012 12:07

    White asparagus is a rarity in the U.S. too. I found it in gourmet supermarkets in San Francisco once in a while. I like both, and wish the green asparagus was easier to find here in Saint-Aignan. I've seen it in markets in Paris... imported from Chile. The green asparagus has a stronger flavor, I think, and French people have very refined palates that deal in subtleties of flavor. Thus the preference for white asparagus.

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  11. Stephen19 April, 2012 17:50

    Sexy...

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