White asparagus: how do we serve them, and with which wine?

In Holland, the white asparagus season is going full throttle at the moment. Somehow, this somewhat eccentric vegetable manages to create lots of discussion"
- on what its best way to prepare would be
Traditionally, the Dutch prepare them in boiling water, with the peeled skin added. More modern is to do a similar thing, but in a steamer (that's how I like them). I also have good experience with stir-frying. Any opnions here?
- on what to accompany them with
Some say: nothing at all, which I find defendable. Traditional Dutch (and Flemish) way is to serve them with cleared (?) butter sauce, a poached egg and some good qualty cooked ham. Veal works very well too.
- what to drink with white asparagus
Also depends on what you serve with them of course. In Holland, everyone appears to be hooked on having Alsatian whites with them. True, a pinot blanc or dry muscat can work very well, but I must admit I never hesitate to serve a easy-on-the-wooding white Burgundy with something like morilles and a mousseline sauce added. Would love to hear traditions in other countries.

Let's hear it before the season is over!

Cor

well, in one sense you won't get much help from the US. we don't really grow the white stuff here - almost exclusively green. that said, americans also don't much care what wine they serve with anything. but for those of us who do care: it is probably best to serve it as a separate course with its own wine. in Blaye in Bordeaux, they grow a lot of asparagus and serve it with local white wines - basically SB +. in loire they also grow the stuff and there the tradition is to serve Chenin - usually on the drier side. and yes, in alsace it is muscat. i've tried them all and you can't really go wrong; but maybe try Chenin and see what you think. best of luck.

Cor, Hi....

Indeed there remain many who say that there is no wine that goes with asparagus. I am not one of those....
My own favorites for white asparagus (fresh only, never in jars!!), most often steamed, sometimes done in a bain marie (double boiler):

With melted clarified butter (what Americans sometimes call "drawn butter"), perhaps with a bit of lemon juice. With that a crisply dry Loire Valley Chenin Blanc or an Alsacian dry Muscat.

With Hollandaise sauce on the tips and with that a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (a la Kim Crawford) or a South African Chenin Blanc.

Alongside either, of those two preparations, thin slices of fatty ham, those sauteed lightly in butter and then rolled so they, like the asparagus, can be eaten with the fingers. Thus, cover only the upper half of the asparagus with whatever sauce is being used.

Best
Rogov

I like roasting asparagus on a cookie sheet sprinkled with olive oil, minced garlic or garlic powder, S & P, in a 400F degree oven for 12-15 minutes.
Serve hot with fresh vinaigrette.
Re wine, I think many go with asparagus, so your choice.

[Jenise]

Cor,

David's right that, sadly, we in the U.S. don't get much white asparagus--but it IS available and increasingly I am seeing it at other times of the year rather than strictly Christmas (the time of year that grocers seem to think Americans will splurge, as the white will run $4-6 a pound where in season, like right now, we buy green for around $2 and sometimes less). I buy it whenever I see it--love the stuff, though we never ge the fat spears Heinz Bobek showed in another thread. I always simmer it in hot water for about 15 minutes and love to serve it warm with ham, shrimp or lox (thinly sliced cured salmon). I usually douse it with a dressing of EVOO and white wine vinegar, but I also sometimes drizzle white truffle oil over it. If the white truffle oil's on, then the wine HAS to be Sancerre.

15 minutes?!! holy spaghetti, batman!

i've never cooked green more than a minute or so. can white be that different?

[Jenise]

15 minutes?!! holy spaghetti, batman!

i've never cooked green more than a minute or so. can white be that different?

White does take longer, yes. 15 might be a bit too long--I just take it off when it's done, whenever that is, and maybe it's more like ten--but I do just simmer it--very low heat, not boiling. That adds time too.

15 minutes?!! holy spaghetti, batman!

i've never cooked green more than a minute or so. can white be that different?

Have you never roasted asparagus, David? Since her pregnancy, Jean's become far more averse to bitter flavors, so slow cooking of asparagus (with copious butter) is about the only way I can get her to eat it.

Mark Lipton

forgot to mention that if you add just a dusting of nutmeg to the butter, it makes a very nice and subtle addition. i also sometimes add parmesian - which also is very nice.

I'd like to put a vote in for my own particular favorite: Vietnamese White Asparagus and Crab soup.

Oddly though, it's apparently more authentic to make it with jarred white asparagus rather than fresh. The reason, according to soupsong.com, is: "... this is one of those gorgeous Eurasian hybrids that is neither French nor Vietnamese, but something quite in its own category. French colonialists brought asparagus to Vietnam, but couldn't get it to grow--so they imported cans and cans of it...and the Vietnamese people got hooked. Although the soup is customarily made with canned white asparagus, I prefer fresh...."

I make this often during warm months, and like the author quoted I prefer using fresh asparagus regardless of tradition.

Here's the recipe from the site, by the way: http://www.soupsong.com/rcrab5.html . I almost always also add cilantro, as that's how the Vietnamese restaurants I go to serve it.

What wine? Um...beer!

Dear all,

Thanks for all the nice input! Now that a couple of people mentioned it, I suddenly remember some discussion on the wine board from years ago: some confusion arose when wine & asparagus was discussed, and Americans and Europeans turned out to have different colors in mind.

Best,

Cor

Didn't know you Americans didn't take part in the Spring Spargel festival!

White asparagus with a little butter (grind a little nutmeg or add a little truffle oil) goes great with Loires. I like aged Savennieres, but I also like a decent Kabinett Riesling, so no hard and fast rules. I also like it when I serve it with bits of toasted prosciutto and freshly toasted almonds and butter, maybe with a nice Gavi.

Now you have me getting hungry. Tonight, I shall hunt up some asparagus!

Try asparagus with Gruner Veltliner, I was amazed how well it goes. I had always thought better without wine.