Can you think of another green veg that can satiate a plate with little more than a trickle of melted butter?
We’re currently in that brutally short, yet precious period from May to June: British asparagus season.
Full-flavoured, textured, intensely sweet, yet tender – asparagus is one vegetable from our shores that deserves a bit of a fanfare. And before you start yawning, thinking ‘asparagus is overrated’, can you think of another green veg that can satiate a plate with little more than a trickle of melted (preferably clarified) butter? Exactly.
Why all the fuss?
Asparagus is delicate; it doesn’t travel well, bruising like a peach or flopping like a blind daffodil if over-weathered. But its shoots are pretty unrivalled when they make it to you in good nick.
English asparagus generally reaches the shelf within 24 hours of picking, ensuring the stems are lush and juicy, as the sugars in them begin to turn to starch as soon as they are picked.
So now is the perfect time to buy them.
Superfood status
Asparagus is brim to the brush tip with Vitamins A, B6 and C, magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron and rutin – an anti-oxidant bioflavonoid, which helps protect capillaries.
Eaten regularly, asparagus should give hair, skin and nails an appropriately Spring-time young bud gleam.
It also packs a powerful punch of folic acid into its chlorophyll soldiers, which can help expectant mothers fight off infection while aiding potassium, thought to help regulate blood pressure, in helping to maintain a healthy heart.
Asparagus is also thankfully low in calories, high in soluble dietary fibre and a natural diuretic. This makes it the perfect spring vegetable to load up on as bikini season arrives alarmingly early – eek!
An aphrodisiac too
If you believe any foods are aphrodisiac, then asparagus is among those to lop up your libido and get you in the mood.
Asparagus is high in folates, which claim to increase your level of histamines (chemicals released by the immune system’s cells that trigger an inflammatory response) and consequently your sex drive – though it's perhaps just as much the finger licking and ravishingly good flavour that stir the senses.
The only downside
In fact, the only downside is perhaps the pungent ammonia-type odour asparagus gives your pee pretty promptly after munching it back in a sophisticated manner.
This occurs as the body breaks down certain chemicals in the asparagus. Weird and pretty unpleasant, but at least it shows your body is doing its digestive job effectively.
No fuss eating
You can toss really fresh raw asparagus through a salad, char-grill it to serve with some simple fresh fish, or add to a delicious prawn and lemon risotto. But, rather like a thimble-ful of Zubrovka vodka, asparagus is best consumed neat.
Don’t cut the stems, but snap them and they will naturally break in the right place, discarding the tougher, woodier ends you don’t want to eat.
In my opinion, there’s no need for an asparagus steamer, where you have to tie stems in a sad fagot and making them stand to attention with elastic upholstery. Just bring a pan of water to the boil and drop your asparagi in for 3-5 minutes until tender. I have a standard Le Creuset steamer, which I place on-top of the pan and place the asparagus in, but this is not wholly necessary.
When the asparagus is cooked, remove from the pan, dab dry (in theory, though who really bothers?), separate onto plates, or scatter onto a large plate for serving, and drizzle with melted butter and a squelch of lemon, or a home-made hollandaise if you’re feeling snazzy.
It’s like eating a plateful of sumptuous green vitality – the texture, the intensity, the fussy little ends.
I think it’s unbeatable… how about you?
Where to find the best asparagus
Check out the lovefood.com guide to the best asparagus producers and have a look at their websites to see where their asparagus is stocked. Rural village farm shops are also always good places to shop for asparagus if you live near the countryside. Look out for the truly authentic batches where little and large stems will be clustered together.
For example, the asparagus from Wykham Park Farm Shop is renowned for being the best around, while lovefood.com readers have highly recommended Formby Point asparagus.
Alternatively, if you prefer the uniformly sized stockier sort (which is good for soups) try Daylesford Organic.
But if you can’t manage to get to either of those shops, don’t worry - every supermarket, market stall, deli and grocer is stocking asparagus right now. It’s hard not to be seduced by them on your habitual way to the aubergine, or red pepper.
In fact, I just bought a bunch from my local market Portobello Market in London; holding it right now I’m enraptured by its sheeny, velvety feel.
How do its cells know how to go from green and strong and juicy to heather-tinged and feathery? The tips have a slightly bitter, more intense flavour than the sweet slippery stems when cooked, adding to the multi-dimensional delight of the whole shebang.
Right, I’m going to stop banging on about how wonderful asparagus is and cook up my bundle before it gets arrogant.
Also worth your attention:
Antonio Carluccio’s pasta ribbons