White asparagus that are allowed a minimum exposure to the sun develop a hint of purple color at the tips and are called "violettes."
The price was high at nine euros/kilo. That works out to about US$5.50/lb. Over the next few weeks, though, the price should fall as more and more asparagus becomes available. Unlike green spears, the white asparagus has to be peeled before cooking. The skins are fibrous and inedible. I'll steam these to get them close to done, then finish them off on the grill. Yum!
The same guy who sells these asparagus sells his locally-grown strawberries, too, but they're not ready yet. Another couple of weeks for those. I saw strawberries for sale that were grown in Spain and others from the Lot-et-Garonne (just south and east of Bordeaux), but I prefer the local stuff, so I'll wait.
Im envious of that asparagus, we don't often see it on our gr island. Its not grown locally. I will definitely look out for some.
ReplyDeleteYum! We're going to have asparagus as well tonight, the green ones though: oven roasted with some lemon, garlic and parmesan. Looking forward to it. Bon appétit! :))
ReplyDeleteBTW: your prices seem to be about the same as ours: I saw them advertised in the local supermarket at €4.49/500g. As you said, still quite expensive this time of year.
ReplyDeleteCan you believe it's finally time to start having locally-grown asparagus, and soon, strawberries!? And to be grilling! Woo hoo!
ReplyDeleteI've always loved asparagus (my favourite cup-a-soup flavour of all!), but they're always so prohibitively expensive here, in whatever form - and it seems to be the same the whole year round. (I suppose to cook one steams them?)
ReplyDeleteI'm not Walt, but AFAIK you can steam them, boil them, roast 'em or grill 'em. They need some kind of cooking, you can't eat them raw, but there are a lot of ways to prepare them.
DeleteSorry Walt, pardon me for jumping in. ;)
Thanks, Elgee (I had to look up 'AFAIK' as it's a new one on me. I thought it might be something rude!)
DeleteI didn't know this veg was so versatile. I'll pass on the boiling as the advice nearly always seems to be that that process takes the 'goodness' out. But steam and roast I shall certainly try.
Beautiful photo, Walt!
ReplyDeleteHow marvelous (again) to have such lovely produce! I love still the notion of seasonal foods. March-April is asparagus
ReplyDeletelocal alien, I hope you find some!
ReplyDeleteelgee, I'll bet they were good. Yes, a little on the high side, but hopefully the prices will start to come down soon.
judy, it's nice when the local stuff starts coming in.
raybeard, good luck! Steaming works really well, and I've heard people rave about roasting, but I don't think I've done that. Yet.
bettyann, thanks!
michael, local seasonal foods are often very good and they're mostly found at our local outdoor markets. Some supermarkets carry local stuff, too, depending on where you live.