Tell Your Asparagus Story
Got a story? Do you grow it? Do you enjoy it or dislike it? If you enjoy it, tell me how you enjoy it most.
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41 Comments:
Um...my grandfather used to call it "sparrow grass" (hilarious old person humor). I've always liked it, but I used to never eat the tips, and my mom used to peel it. Now I'll eat it any way, preferably boiled or sauteed in some garlic and olive oil. I'm a purist when it comes to veggies!
embolini9 at 12:14PM on 05/23/09
In regards to Asparagus pee. I don't experience it! People either don't believe me or are amazed and want to know why I don't get it. They ask me what I eat with asparagus, what time I eat asparagus, etc.
My parent's both say they get it so it's not genetic.
ag3208 at 12:20PM on 05/23/09
Grow it, love it anyway but best is tossed with a little olive oil and baked at 450º for about ten minutes. My son had a yellow Lab that would eat the asparagus growing in the garden as fast as it grew.
goodcooker at 12:29PM on 05/23/09
@ag3208 - It's genetic! Some people don't get it, don't feel left out. :)
embolini9 at 12:39PM on 05/23/09
I didn't know you could eat raw asparagus until a couple of years ago. I'm 48. Always a little late to the party ... Anyway, I'll eat it anyway it comes, but have warm fuzzies for roasted asparagus tossed with pasta, garlic, lemon zest and pecorino. And yes, I suffer with the pungent urine, but feel its worth the unsavory side-effects.
smallkitchen at 12:49PM on 05/23/09
Any way it comes. Throw it into a bundle of tin foil filled with big chunks of butter and put it onto the grill next to your meat. Steamed. My favorite way is in large chunks and fried lightly in bacon grease with sweet onions. Yummm!
I'm in the middle of dental work so tody my wife got up early and went to the local farmer's market to get asparagus to make homemade cream of asparagus soup. Now that is showing love!
Nursie at 1:56PM on 05/23/09
Chuck it on the grill whole, squeeze some lemon on it as well as some salt and pepper, and eat it with your hands, preferably with a variety of dips (hollandaise, aioli, salsa). Makes for a great romantic meal.
@Nursie; your wife is fantastic. Put some parmesan in that! Hope you feel better soon.
NotAmerican at 2:02PM on 05/23/09
my dad grew it every year and we'd eat it any/all ways. Love it steamed, roasted, cream of soup, in a salad, with eggs, baked with lemon and sprinkled with hard cooked eggs. You name it and I'd like it!
duncan1205 at 2:29PM on 05/23/09
sauteed with olive oil & garlic -- then tossed with pasta & shrimp....
frittatas, lemon & olive oil dressing .... any way, any form....
pooch at 2:44PM on 05/23/09
love asparagus..my favorite way is in a simple omelette then put in buttered Italian bread--
I have to try grilling it at some point ...
Italiancupcake at 3:13PM on 05/23/09
Love it! Roasted with olive oil, grated parm and s&p is my fave.
finsbigfan at 4:26PM on 05/23/09
@ ag3208 and embolini9 - I heard that it is actually not the ability to produce asparapiss that is genetic but the ability to smell it. So perhaps everyone has it but you just can't smell it (which I would count as a blessing).
swampyankee at 4:52PM on 05/23/09
lmao swampy
dearrie at 5:08PM on 05/23/09
Planning to grow some next year. Can't wait.
beth1 at 5:25PM on 05/23/09
Ahhh, asparagus pee. A malady well worth it in the name of yummy food, in my opinion.
mollykate678 at 5:49PM on 05/23/09
I love asparagus and have heard that it's easy to grow, so maybe I'll try that next year. I prefer it roasted with a little olive oil and lemon juice, but I'm a sucker for cream of asparagus soup too.
A couple of years ago I learned that you can't eat it if you have gout--it'll make the gout worse due to its high uric acid content (which is what makes your pee smell funny). I'm glad I don't have gout.
buffy at 5:49PM on 05/23/09
Nom nom nom...I love it dearly. Mostly roasted with salt and, perhaps a squeeze of lemon. I just returned from Vancouver, where I returned to a Mandarin restaurant for Dim Sum in large part due to a steamed dumpling filled with shrimp, scallop and tender asparagus. It was so tender, so green tasting. It was magic. I wish I could go back.
BananaMonkey at 6:45PM on 05/23/09
Eggs scrambled with asparagus and a little goat cheese is dinner at least once a week. On my list of favorite foods EVER, asparagus has to be in the top 3.
And I have to admit, I don't mind the asparagus pee....it's like a daily reminder that my body is doing what it's supposed to be doing. I have asparagus for dinner, and 20 minutes later, it's like, woohoo! All the bits are working properly!
nosillak at 8:22PM on 05/23/09
If you are gonna grow it, give youreslf lots of room and have lots of patience, it takes a few years to produce anything sicnificant. I love it steamed with butter, salt and balsamic redux. Yummmmmmmmmmm
WSLunch at 8:24PM on 05/23/09
Started growing a patch 3 years ago. First year it came up it was just wisps, each year it gets more substantial, but as directed we are still not harvesting much. Maybe next year will finally be the year. But the few pieces we have taken are much sweeter and more delicious than any other I've tasted.
As for cooking it, roasted or grilled with olive oil and lemon or balsamic. Or wrapped in prosciutto and then grilled!
potroast at 9:14PM on 05/23/09
Here in Iowa I have asparagus in my garden, and we also drive the countryside to find the asparagus growing in the ditches alongside our gravel roads. My favorite way to prepare it is to use a grill basket over hot coals. I toss the spears with olive oil, then stir fry in the basket until charred and just starting to turn limp. Serve with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Suzzanne at 11:44PM on 05/23/09
My favourite is roasted with olive oil, sea salt, lemon zest and cracked black pepper. But I'll take it pretty much any way it comes, as long as it's not overcooked or - shudder - tinned.
brooke29 at 12:55AM on 05/24/09
@brooke - "Tinned." Yikes. That brings me back to the absolute WORST meal I've ever had to eat. Growing up, my mom cooked off of a rotating menu. Wednesday nights were usually our most hectic, so that meant frozen fish sticks, tater tots, and canned asparagus. I cannot even come near any of those items now, and still am averse to the first 2 in any form. It took me a long time to realize that "Asparagus" was not the 'asparagus' from my childhood.
mollykate678 at 8:57AM on 05/24/09
I like asparagus so much that I'll eat it out of the can cold. I prefer it fresh, of course, but it costs about the same as good steak down here.
Grumpy Old Man at 11:40AM on 05/24/09
love. love. love... not canned though.. i used to before i ever had fresh but i cant go backwards... i love it grilled with lemon, butter, and sea salt... i am lucky to have a family member that grows it so she supplies me quite often.
hungrygrl7 at 12:06PM on 05/24/09
I bought Purple Asparagus at Trader Joe's yesterday and cooked it "restaurant style" (boiling water, then pan with some oil, salt and pepper).
Delicious, thick stalks. Tender and sweeter than the green variety.
chanterelle at 12:07PM on 05/24/09
@chanterelle: Saw the purple asparagus at our TJ's, too, and I almost bought it! Haven't tried it.
@anybody: Do you eat your asparagus with your fingers? I've done it since I was around twelve or thirteen. I borrowed a book from the local library called Tiffany's Table Manners and was informed that it is acceptable to eat asparagus out-of-hand. Of course, the next time I ate it this way, my parents balked. And I cited Tiffany. My dad laughed but my mom got all uptight and wondered what Emily Post thought. I never checked.
Susquehanna at 12:47PM on 05/24/09
Just checked. Tiffany apparently learned a thing or two from Emily Post:
"Although asparagus may be taken in the fingers, don’t take a long drooping stalk, hold it up in the air and catch the end of it in your mouth like a fish. When the stalks are thin, it is best to cut them in half with the fork, eating the tips like all fork food; the ends may then be taken in the fingers and eaten without a dropping fountain effect! Don’t squeeze the stalks, or hold your hand below the end and let the juice run down your arm."
(Post, Emily. Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1922)
(hotlink)
Susquehanna at 1:01PM on 05/24/09
I always eat asparagus out of hand. Seems silly to attempt to use a fork.
buffy at 1:07PM on 05/24/09
http://www.bartleby.com/95/35.html
(HTML link didn't work above).
Susquehanna at 1:08PM on 05/24/09
That homemade cream of asparagus soup last night was mouthgasmic.
The asparagus from the farmer's stand was $1.98/pound. She used homemade chicken stock with the tough ends of asparagus in it for a while just to get it started in flavor - brought to a boil. Reserved the tips for late texture adding, crisped some bacon. Sauted sweet onions into the bacon drippings and then deglazed the pan with white wine. Added the asparagus with just barely enough of the chicken stock to cover and then simmered until all was soft. Added a little flour, stirred well, then added a bit more stock - a couple of cups. She blended that mix well and put back onto heat with stems, cream, and added back in the chopped bacon and asparagus tips. A little oregano and fresh thyme.
Soooooooooooooooooooooooo good. [Served beside fresh halibut oven baked with butter and Old Bay.]
Nursie at 1:58PM on 05/24/09
@Sus - always out of hand, even at a restaurant - unless it's served as a part of a dish that it otherwise eaten with cutlery. But if it's just a side of asparagus with Hollandaise sauce, I always eat it out of hand, without even noticing it. As buffy says, it seems really silly to use a fork!
brooke29 at 3:49PM on 05/24/09
Just bought some yesterday - it was looking pretty measly at the stores until then! I bake mine at 350 for 20-30 with some salt, pepper, and olive oil. Then I top it with balsamic syrup (I can't make my own for the life of me so I just buy it!). Yummy goodness...then asparagus pees ensue. I really didn't believe they existed when a friend told me, but lo and behold...
dharmon at 8:25AM on 05/25/09
I still remember my first asparagus sandwich... I could not believe that they were made of something so foreign to me at the time. I was a convert right then and there. Now I also love them grilled with a squirt of lemon on top
Last month, via I introduced my godaughter and her brothers to asparragus via these sandwiches... the face on the oldest one was precious when he learned what they were made of. I love to surprise them with new ingredients they would not otehrwise have tried.
Madelyn
KarmaFreeCooking
MadelynRodriguez at 2:45PM on 05/26/09
For those who live in metro Detroit, you MUST visit the Long Family Farm in Commerce Township. Their asparagus is fresh-picked daily, absolutely the best I've ever had, and usually around $1.50-$2/lb! Get there right at 3:00 pm, though, or it'll sell out before you can blink. Visit their website!
@Susquehanna: as an English teacher, I love, love, love that you followed proper MLA format for your citation! It absolutely geeked me out to see it. Thank you!
miskadventures at 9:26PM on 05/26/09
Anyone ever had the pleasure to eat white asparagus? They are so delicious!! Simply boiled, with some hollandaise sauce, hard boiled eggs and sliced ham...in season in Holland (& Germany) every year for about 6 weeks right now..I am Dutch, grew up with it and so want to jump on a plane to get them, fresh from the farm. The only veggie i really get excited about. (pls dont tell me that Whole Foods sells them, those tiny stalks from Peru are pathetic!)
oh btw, they are white but have the same effect...;o))
lisetted at 9:50PM on 05/26/09
Remember my dad picking wild asparagus, hated it then. But when I got older I love it. Have to watch it though (gout), but love it roasted, grilled or steamed with a little butter and salt.
danrob54 at 4:22AM on 05/27/09
@miskadventures: You're most welcome. But you should know that I'm prone to typos. I definitely need an editor.
@lisetted: I've never had white asparagus, either. What's wrong with me?! Also, you probably don't need to buy asparagus from Whole Foods if asparagus is in season at a local farm. I get good asparagus from two local farm stands here in PA. I don't know where you are located, but check Local Harvest. It'll direct you to places that sell local produce. You'll likely get fresher, more robust asparagus there.
Susquehanna at 12:07PM on 05/27/09
Growing up, my family was very diverse in our taste for asparagus. My mom loved it, my brother loathed the stuff and the rest of us were somewhere in between. But my brother's hatred spawned a family inside joke involving asparagus dipped in chocolate. If you want your kids to eat their vegetables, you gotta do what you gotta do!
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 5:23PM on 05/28/09
@Swampyankee: to the best of my knowledge, that's correct. Aspargine is an amino acid common in many foods, but first isolated in asparagus. The characteristic smell associated with asaparagus urine is a result of sulfuric byproducts from the breakdown of the amino acid.
Certain studies have shown that the ability to detect the odor varies from person to person, but the studies' results are not definitive.
SSG Snuffy at 2:56PM on 05/29/09
Asparagus is fantastic pickled, preferably with a goodly amount of red pepper flakes. Like Suzzane, we find wild asparagus growing along irrigation ditches and it is a whole different animal than the commercial kind---much nuttier in flavor. While I would never eat store bought asparagus raw, I use the wild variety as snack food.
Choke Cherry at 12:14PM on 05/30/09