It’s that time of year again: it’s Spargelzeit! Spargel is German for white asparagus (whereas green asparagus is grüner Spargel). The restaurants all have special Spargel menus and the markets are full of Spargel stands. It took me a couple years to truly appreciate Spargel. I found it’s rich, buttery flavor a little overwhelming at first, but now I love it. I try to eat it as often as I can, but I’ve never actually prepared it myself (Rainer did once and that was a semi-disaster).
We’ve got three Spargel recipes to do in the Real German Cuisine Challenge. The first is Spargel mit Kratzete, or White Asparagus with Pancakes. It sounds delicious and we’ll be having some Spargel virgins over for the feast this weekend. I’m going to go ahead and try making Spargel soup from the peels and cuttings, but I’m gonna find a recipe online because the note on this recipe is just too vague about amounts.
And if you want to see a Spargel field and learn how it’s grown, check out my post from last year when I went to Abensburg, the local Spargel growing area. Warning: you may enjoy eating Spargel more if you don’t know how it’s grown!
Photo credit: daAlex on flickr
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
There is a good Spargal stand in Neufahrplatz. The women there peel them for you so you don’t get rough Spargal. That was our biggest problem when we prepared them ourselves – we didn’t take off enough of the hard stuff.
That sounds delicious! I love asparagus (the white ones are my favourites). We eat them with finely chopped hard boiled eggs, chopped parsley and melted butter! Heaven! Maybe I will have a go at your recipe. When are you posting this, next Monday?
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@tammy: I remember being with you when you got Spargel once there. I think I’m gonna try myself so I can use the peels for the soup.
@jientje: Yes, I’ll be posting the results next Monday. Would love you to join in!
I’ve never understood the fascination with white asparagus. My parents loved them, me I like the green ones. Is that the Wilhelmstrasse in Wiesbaden? That’s my home town…ciao
@rositta: Not sure what street it was. It runs between the Bad and the Altstadt.
I am partial to the green asparagus myself. I tend to just lightly steam it and then put it in a really hot pan and let it get a few burnt patches on it and then drizzle a bit of lemon juice over it.
Or it just steamed with butter…yum!
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