300223 Sat May 07 17:59:24 -0700 2005 21 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1667326 Is it just me, or is white asparagus *really* overrated? It's Asparagus Week at a local restaurant (Mozaika in Prague, highly recommended by the way) and we ate there last night. I ordered the pork filet with morel sauce, pommes dauphinoise and green and white asparagus, and it was delicious. It was interesting to taste the asparaguses (asparagi?) side-by-side - I could compare them directly as they were cooked in the same way by the same chef. The white just seems *insipid* compared to the green (rather than delicate) - less texture and less flavour. Everybody here (except for me and my husband) seems to rave about white asparagus being so much more delicious than green, so I wonder if it's just me being an uncultured swine. Sat May 07 17:59:24 -0700 2005 0 Trepanny Peck 1 1667329 I totally agree with you, I made both last spring together, and I ended up throwing out the leftover white; maybe everyone should eat it side by side. The green made me realize why people go crazy for aspargus in the spring: if there were just white I wouldn't really care. Sat May 07 19:27:00 -0700 2005 1667326 0 coll 2 1667330 I agree as well...tried it once, little or no flavor, and I assume less vitamins...won't be buying it again - anyone every tried it with truffle oil? Any reason to? Sat May 07 20:40:36 -0700 2005 1667329 0 Claire 3 1667349 Like everyone else, I could never see the allure of white aspapargus until I had it done right once at a SF restaurant called Chez Spencer. Chez Spenser's steamed white asparagus with truffle emulsion made me realize why white asparagus has a good reputation It was mild and tender with subtle flavor. Usually white asparagus amounts to three tiny cold spears in some sort of vinaigrette. The white asparagus I’ve bought at the farmers market, beautifully tinged with pink and purple, has been tough and bitter. ANYWAY, that led to a long and interesting discussion on the SF board about white asparagus. I found a link to a Saveur artile about Spargel - the German name for white aspapragus. It seems they even have festivals and white asparagus schnapps. There are six different grades of white asparagus. Anyway, in the US, white asparagus is not correctly handled from the growing process right up to the peeling and cooking process. A little from the article: "The asparagus must be harvested just before or just after their tips break through the soil, lest they lose their sweet, earthy flavor" "The texture is soft, with a slight stringiness, and the taste is a subtle mixture of sweet earth, butter, nuts, and a pleasant bitterness the Germans call edelbitter." Yeah, that was it. Man, gotta get to Chez Spencer now ... or Germany. Old CH post with gratuitous asparagus / wine paring http://www.chowhound.com/california/boards/sanfrancisco7/messages/28937.html Link: http://www.saveur.com/article.jsp?ID=15979&typeID=100 Sun May 08 01:38:40 -0700 2005 1667330 0 Krys 4 1667350 I was in Dusseldorf during Spargel season and I must say what passes for white asparagus here is NOT at all the same. The subtle, delicate, delicious flavor or FRESH (dug the day before) white asparagus is really excellent. Sun May 08 05:03:48 -0700 2005 1667349 0 StriperGuy 5 1667356 I agree. I was in Munich last year during spargel season. Many restaurants pride themselves on their white asparagus dishes and make them the central focus of the meal. Until you have tasted white asparagus prepared by the Germans, you really cannot understand what all the fuss is about. Unfortunately, as other posters have pointed out, what passes for white asparagus stateside is as inedible as cardboard. I cannot begin to figure out why such an inferior product is even offered for sale. Sun May 08 06:24:36 -0700 2005 1667350 0 brentk 6 1667392 This means one thing: Germany field trip next Spring. All chowhounds on board. Sun May 08 22:24:09 -0700 2005 1667356 0 snackish 6 1667429 Nothing better than a good Spargelfest... I just wonder why we can't do it somewhat the same here - I still dream of a white spargel dish baked with Bechamel & Schinken strewn over I ate in Rothenberg years ago... I lived in Munich & we would count the weeks til Spargel season. Mon May 09 13:20:40 -0700 2005 1667356 0 torta basilica 3 1667381 White asparagus is splendid with a touch of white truffle oil, prosciutto di parma, and some fontina for a cold plate. Sun May 08 18:44:25 -0700 2005 1667330 0 Melanie Wong 1 1667344 I tried it once...thought it was just me. It was four times as expensive, tough, stringy and tasteless. That experience didn't make me feel like parting with more money to try it again. Sun May 08 00:19:13 -0700 2005 1667326 0 snackish 1 1667345 All asparagus, green or white, like truffles and fois gras, is overrated. Sun May 08 00:55:09 -0700 2005 1667326 0 2chez mik 2 1667352 On the foie gras front I am struck dumb with awe at your statement. A slab of really fresh foie gras, seared, rare inside, eaten on a nice bit of bread, and heaven forbid, washed down with some Sauternes............... Excuse me, I was trying to find a napkin to wipe the drool off my chin. Sun May 08 05:08:38 -0700 2005 1667345 0 StriperGuy 3 1667428 Find one for me too... Mon May 09 13:17:01 -0700 2005 1667352 0 torta basilica 2 1667388 Which leaves all the more for the rest of us. Sun May 08 21:01:29 -0700 2005 1667345 0 Food Tyrant 1 1667357 I really like asparagus in both forms. White asparagus, when it is plucked at it's prime and prepared simply, is a textural miracle. It's the closest that a solid can come to a liquid and a liquid to a solid. I've developed a particular liking for the tips (what they call the "yema" here in Spain--the yolk). Sun May 08 07:05:50 -0700 2005 1667326 0 butterfly 2 1667384 Interesting; I prefer green because it is crunchier, but maybe I need to rethink white - i.e. go for 'liquid in solid form' rather than 'floppy'. At the beginning of Spring, when asparagus was still being imported, white was selling for E19 a kilo, and green E9. Right now, it's E3.50 and E3.60 respectively. So white is actually cheaper than green right now in Italy. My current debate if I prefer the thicker green or the thin, wispy asparagini. Must do some further taste tests, fat, thin, green, white... Sun May 08 20:21:16 -0700 2005 1667357 0 kate 3 1667420 I think that's the crux of the matter. We (Americans, I mean) have grown accustomed to having our vegetables crunchy and have lost the taste for well cooked vegetables. I think there was an article in the NYT about Spain a while back where the writer called white asparagus "flaccid." I can't imagine how angry most Spanish folks would be to hear their beloved vegetable emasculated in such a way. It's a matter of preference, I suppose. But in my opinion, some vegetables just taste better when they are well-cooked. I really love the wispy little "trigueros" that are available this time of year. I like to grill them "a la plancha" with olive oil. I also like the little pickled ones that come in jars. Where do the white asparagus in Italy come from? Here the best are grown in Navarra. Mon May 09 11:57:21 -0700 2005 1667384 0 butterfly 4 1667426 Well, it wouldn't work with white asapargus, but I like raw green asparagus which has a pleaseant nutty taste. However, when I am going for a good veggie, I don't like too al dente. Mon May 09 12:41:09 -0700 2005 1667420 0 Krys 4 1667445 I've read that the best asparagus comes from Bassano del Grappa, in the Veneto. It receives the dame DOC protection that aceto balsamico from Modena gets. Mon May 09 16:05:04 -0700 2005 1667420 0 kate 1 1667366 I like white asparagus better, but only when it's fresh. There is a slight delicious bitterness to it that it wonderful when paired with rich, butter-based sauces. Green asparagues just tastes generically green to me, an agreeable, much stronger taste, but nothing like white asparagus. Sun May 08 10:57:08 -0700 2005 1667326 0 Sir Gawain 1 1667389 White asparagus takes a lot more labor to process (field hands actually mounding soil) and the difference in price doesn't seem to be worth it from a farmer I know who grows very good green asparagus. The best white asparagus seems to be the German, but then only during Spring. And given the delicacy of the plant, it really doesn't survive the trip here. The white asparagus that we seem to get isn't very noteworthy. Peru is becoming a major force in asparagus and is growing at least 2 crops a year. Their white asparagus is good, and is a lot cheaper than the German. But only get it in the Fall which is Spring in Peru (don't try to fool Mother Nature. A plant knows when it's time is right). Finally note that there is a third variety, purple. A new product that is 20% sweeter and has less strings. In any guise asparagus is a wonderful veg that can be cooked via so many methods. The other day I roasted some with a drizzle of orange oil, and a bit of salt. Yaozuh.... Sun May 08 21:12:07 -0700 2005 1667326 0 Food Tyrant 1 1667427 White asparagus, when grown correctly and handled well, is wonderful. I love the vegetal/mineral flavor but you find at the market is generally of poor quality. Mon May 09 12:46:52 -0700 2005 1667326 0 JudiAU