Asparagus, from garden to plate 1

Here is the first installment of a new 4 part series tracing selected ingredients from growth to plate, courtesy of my time on the farm. Many people don’t get the opportunity to see how food grows so I’ll share me experiences of a few delicious items with you. First, asparagus!

Asparagus is one of my favourite vegetables, eating the tender young stalks straight from the ground is a joy. So this is the right time of year to visit the farm, tiptoe along the rows plucking the day old shoots from the earth and nibble them all the way back to the house. Hopefully the yield was high enough so that there is still some left over for dinner.

If you leave asparagus growing for too long it quickly turns into a fern, fennel-like and dotted with tiny spherical green seed pods that turn red with time. It looks just like the fern that used to grow in our front garden, back when I thought asparagus came from a tin. But really asparagus spears shoot up in a day and are best eaten fresh or with minimal preparation.

Dig under the mounded compost and cut the stalk with secateurs. The stalk gains a little length that only that which is poking above the earth.

The beginning of daylight savings, although necessary when you rise with the sun, is a rude shock on the farm – market day requires a 5:30 wake up, which is now 4:30am. The asparagus require daily harvesting, sometimes in the morning, but here it is done at dusk. An asparagus dinner, which they should all be, gets pushed back an hour. Dad says that in regards to asparagus here he doesn’t talk about food miles, instead it is measured in food metres. The distance between growing and kitchen is less than 50 metres and we eat them only hours after they’re picked, so tender, sweet and definitely asparagussy.

Tiny new asparagus spear, just breaking the ground, still white.

Asparagus is powered from an underground battery pack, called a crown. In the 8 or so months of the off-season the asparagus fern grows, photosynthesises and stores all the gathered energy in the crown like a battery pack, ready for the 10 week asparagus season. White asparagus is the same variety, but the stalks have been shielded from sunlight leaving them pale, instead of the usual purple and green hue.

A new asparagus stalk growing up through one of last years.

Dad just walked in, hands full of these bright green stalks. This season hasn’t been too good, but todays harvest was plentiful, maybe because of last nights rain. Despite the spareness of the crop, there is always enough spears to spread around to the neighbours.

Asparagus Mimosa

Normally he would just eat them raw, as a part of his Dad-style salad – chunky cut vegetables bunged on a plate – but I blanched these to take off the raw edge leaving them ever-crisp. Paired 60’s style with tangy vinaigrette and creamy organic boiled eggs, mimosa style evokes a young Grandma’s dinner party complete with martini’s and floral dresses with cinched waists. Freshen up, pour yourself a drink, switch Mad Men on and eat some Asparagus Mimosa.

Asparagus Mimosa
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine. I omitted the mustard because thats how I roll.

2 bunches medium asparagus, trimmed and lower half of stalk peeled
2 Tablespoons tarragon vinegar
1 finely chopped spring onion
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 hard-boiled large eggs at room temperature
salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare the asparagus and blanch quickly in boiling salted water, the length of time depends on the size of your stalks. I like them a bit crunchy still, so I cooked them for 2 minutes only. Refresh in cold water and drain well.
For the vinaigrette, mix together the vinegar, spring onion and seasoning. Add the oil in a thin stream, whisking continuously to emulsify.
For the eggs, peel and halve them, then force through a medium meshed sieve. Coat asparagus with some of the vinaigrette and place on a serving plate, top with egg and remaining vinaigrette.