Food Asparagus Salad

It was quite hot in Berlin yesterday with 29 C, even at 20:00 still 27 C. So, time for a salad. It’s asparagus season in Germany and after so many asparagus with olive oil&parmesan or with Sauce Hollandaise in the restaurants, time for something different. Here a very delicious salad for warm weather or countryside.


Ingredients


800g white asparagus

1 bunch radish

200-300g cherry tomatoes

Piccandou - goat cream cheese, each 40g (1 per dish)

chives

2 tbsp white vinegar (Agrodolce Bianco by Giusti from Modena)

7 tbsp olive oil




Preparation


1. First peel the asparagus and chopp each asparagus in 4 pieces


2. Cook the asparagus pieces in salty water incl. 1tsp sugar for 12min


3. Chopp the radish in quarters and halve the cherry tomatoes. Also chopp the chive


4. Sieve the asparagus pieces and let it cool down


5. Add radish, tomatoes to a salad bowl. Also asparagus pieces and chives. Now add the vinegar, oil and salt&pepper. Combine everything.


6. Add to the dish, drizzle with 1 Piccandou each dish and finally drizzle with more chives on top


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Your white and our green asparagus are completely different vegetables, Martin, though they both perfume the urine agreeably.
I like the spears boiled and served with brown butter, top class olive oil, beurre blanc or Hollandaise myself, only three or four times each season but in large quantity, cooked through, not al dente but the tips not even thinking of falling apart. It is necessary to peel them to achieve that unless one can gather one's own and snap them off where the skin becomes imperceptible.
 
Your white and our green asparagus are completely different vegetables, Martin, though they both perfume the urine agreeably.
I like the spears boiled and served with brown butter, top class olive oil, beurre blanc or Hollandaise myself, only three or four times each season but in large quantity, cooked through, not al dente but the tips not even thinking of falling apart. It is necessary to peel them to achieve that unless one can gather one's own and snap them off where the skin becomes imperceptible.

Of course, BUT you have no white asparagus at all. Only green???
 
I admire Germany's (and other country's) embracing of asparagus when in season rather than being a common all year round dish. Its freshness makes you feel spring has arrived.
But after recent trips to Belgium and Netherlands, try as I might, I really don't get your love of white asparagus, it just doesn't have the flavour of green asparagus.

So upon return made a green asparagus risotto, eaten with these young but tasty numbers. The Weis is good but there is just something sublime about the balance in the Braune Kupp.

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I suppose one man's bland is another man's delicate with white asparagus.
 
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I admire Germany's (and other country's) embracing of asparagus when in season rather than being a common all year round dish. Its freshness makes you feel spring has arrived.
But after recent trips to Belgium and Netherlands, try as I might, I really don't get your love of white asparagus, it just doesn't have the flavour of green asparagus.

So upon return made a green asparagus risotto, eaten with these young but tasty numbers. The Weis is good but there is just something sublime about the balance in the Braune Kupp.

View attachment 25533

I suppose one man's bland is another man's delicate with white asparagus.

As always much depends on the quality of the product. I have tasted several white asparagus from different regions this spring and there are huge differences. Some could be a bit bitter and others are such flavorful and elegant. I had good white asparagus from Bruchsal in the south of Germany and terrific ones from Beelitz from East Germany.

On the other hand maybe white asparagus is not your cup of tea. That's okay.


P.S. to reduce the bitterness in white asparagus, add 1 tbsp of sugar to the salty water while cooking
 
Gabi has finally come round to appreciate English ie green asparagus in contrast to white asparagus she grew up with in German. I have tried to fall in love with the white variety and have never eaten any that has made me gasp, grin or giggle in the eating. For its impressive phallic nature it is another matter!7694A06B-8B23-47CF-A8F8-A1AA2C9B9482.jpeg
 
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