It’s springtime in Salzburg and that means one thing for sure…SPARGELZEIT! Every restaurant is serving it, the green market is piled high with it, small stands have popped up on street corners selling it. What is this culinary delight? Asparagus, piles and piles of asparagus, but not the green kind you may be used to. We are talking big, fat stalks of mouthwatering white asparagus.
With a long history as a “luxury vegetable” cultivation of white asparagus can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Grown entirely surrounded by earth, the stalks are protected from the blazing sun. Without light the plants cannot produce chlorophyll and never turn green. Each spear is harvested by hand. Using a special knife the earth is loosened then the stalks are gently set free from their pitch black beds.
Every restaurant in town celebrates Spargelzeit. You will find it pureed into a creamy soup, tucked into risotto, tossed onto a salad and whipped into a soufflé. From April to June you too can join the party and go crazy for Spargel!
When shopping for white asparagus choose spears that are plump and straight, the flower heads should be tight and slightly shiny. Curved and discolored stalks with dry woody ends indicate inferior quality and age. To prepare, slightly bend each spear until the woody end snaps off. Then get to work with a peeler and don’t be shy, be sure to strip every bit of course stringy skin away. Toss the peels into a large pan and layer the stalks along the top. Dab with a tablespoon of butter, a bit of sugar and a squeeze of lemon. Cover with water and gently simmer for 15 minutes. At this point you can eat them straight out of the pan (at lease a few) or serve piled with thinly shaved prosciutto, touched with hollandaise, or my favorite dappled with parmesan. Mahlzeit!
