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To: Mr. K; muir_redwoods
what color should it be?

White. It's a regional thing and how it's cultivated...;-)

White asparagus in continental northwestern Europe

Asparagus is very popular in the Netherlands, Spain, France, Poland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland, and is almost exclusively white; if not, it is specified by the local language term for "green asparagus". White asparagus is the result of applying a blanching technique while the asparagus shoots are growing. Compared to green asparagus, the locally cultivated so-called "white gold" or "edible ivory" asparagus, also referred to as "the royal vegetable",[13] is less bitter and much more tender.[citation needed] Freshness is very important, and the lower ends of white asparagus must be peeled before cooking or raw consumption.

To cultivate white asparagus, the shoots are covered with soil as they grow, i.e. earthed up; without exposure to sunlight no photosynthesis starts, so the shoots remain white in colour.

Only seasonally on the menu, asparagus dishes are advertised outside many restaurants, usually from late April to June. For the French style, asparagus is often boiled or steamed and served with hollandaise sauce, melted butter or olive oil, Parmesan cheese or mayonnaise.[23] Tall, narrow asparagus cooking pots allow the shoots to be steamed gently, their tips staying out of the water.

During the German Spargelsaison or Spargelzeit ("asparagus season" or "asparagus time"), the asparagus season that traditionally finishes on 24 June, roadside stands and open-air markets sell about half of the country's white asparagus consumption.[24]


39 posted on 12/11/2014 9:59:42 AM PST by Moltke ("The Press, Watson, is a most valuable institution if you only know how to use it.")
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To: Moltke

Asparagus with lemon-butter...yum.


40 posted on 12/11/2014 10:02:00 AM PST by Kackikat
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