Divided by thoughts, united by spargel

White asparagus and the chokehold it has on Germany

Apologies in advance for any typos below…

A lot of recipes to go through today:

• white asparagus broth

• white asparagus butter

• white asparagus salt

• creamy white asparagus soup

• white (and green) asparagus risotto

• white asparagus udon soup

• green asparagus and grain salad

But first… IRL soup stuff!

Soups book is out in Español - hola!!! If you have any Spanish friends... go go go.

Secondly, my dear friend Verena of Salon C/O asked me to help her bring a concept to life for Philip Huang’s pop-up opening cocktail yesterday. The briefing was: seasonal, local, primordial, textures, elevation, collapse/disappearance. We put together a landscape of quintessentially German snacks - from Brezn (pretzels), bread, and butter to cured meats, cheeses, and white asparagus with hollandaise. Philip Huang’s pop-up will be around for the next 2 weeks and he’s running 2 indigo workshops this coming weekend - check one out if you’re in Munich!

Ungovernable pretzels, honey with black pepper, Alpine cheeses, a mountain of asparagus with a pond of hollandaise

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On to today’s main character: WHITE ASPARAGUS

Every year around this time, it happens: an entire country collectively forgets the existence of all vegetables aside from white asparagus. While its appeal is spreading, Germany remains the global leader in white asparagus production (105,000 metric tons annually) and consumption (1.3kg per citizen per year).

For Germans, it doesn’t matter where you are, it doesn’t matter WHO you are: the arrival of spring means white asparagus and buckets of hollandaise. We have asparagus festivals, elected asparagus queens, and specific plates in the dimensions of asparagus.

Check out this beautiful set on the Salon C/O website

Once bred for nobility, white asparagus is slightly more laborious as it has to be grown under very specific conditions - not quite by candlelight (looking at you, forced rhubarb!) - but still, high maintenance. It’s essentially starved of sunlight: the spears are kept underground for their entire growth process, preventing photosynthesis, and thus the green colour, from emerging.

Spargelkönigin: an asparagus queen

Buckle up, because we are embarking on a white asparagus journey below - going places white asparagus has never been before (as far as I know).

First things first: unlike green asparagus, white asparagus is woody and stringy, so it needs to be peeled quite rigorously, regardless how you plan to prepare it. I’ve heard of a blender breaking due to insufficiently peeled stalks - those fibrous stringy peels are VERY strong! Which brings us to the first 3 recipes… what to with all those peels?

This is the classic choice, though it makes the most sense if you’re going to make a soup or a risotto - the broth on its own wouldn’t be my cup of tea (personally). You could also use it to cook grains in I guess? For the perfect intensity, I keep the ratios 1:2 or so (500g peels to 1000ml water or stock).

• 500g asparagus peels

• 1000ml water or stock/broth

Add everything to a pot, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Strain and discard the solids.

This may be my best discovery of the year. Let me tell you, this butter is a revalation with eggs or on toast!!!

• 250 g of salted butter

• 250 g of white asparagus peels

Place everything in a pot, warm up on medium heat until the butter melts then reduce to very low and gently simmer for an hour, then strain, whisk, and cool off in the fridge

This isn’t as straightforward, but it was a fun and successful experiment! It requires a dehydrator: dehydrate the peels, then pulverise them. On its own, the powder has a slightly bitter aftertaste, but mixed in with salt it goes really well on all kinds of things - I’m thinking popcorn next…?

• 500g white asparagus peels

Dehydrate the peels for 24 hours at 60 degrees. Then place them in a high-speed blender until a fine pulver appears. Mix in with flaky sea salt (I’d suggest a 1:2 ratio) and use on eggs, avocado, etc.

I didn't get up to my usual tricks for this soup - this is as classical as it gets!

Serves 2

• 500 g white asparagus

• 25g (2 tb) butter

• ½ pinch sugar

• ¼ pinch salt

• 3 tablespoons flour

• A squeeze of lemon

• 400 ml (1.5ish cups) asparagus broth

• 100 ml (1/3 cup) heavy cream

• Salt and pepper (to taste)

• To top: a drizzle of brown butter, a sprinkling of chives and toasted breadcrumbs (optional)

Instructions

1. Peel the asparagus thoroughly, and cut 2cm off the ends, and make asparagus broth from these.

2. Cut the peeled asparagus into chunks. Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the sugar, salt, and the asparagus pieces. Sauté over low heat for 2 minutes - the asparagus should start releasing some of its juices at this point.

3. Sprinkle the flour over the asparagus and stir well with a wooden spoon until the asparagus is coated. Gradually add the water while stirring. Bring to a boil, stirring continuously, then reduce and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the asparagus is tender. Stir every now and then.

4. Add the cream, salt, and pepper. Blend the soup with an immersion blender until it reaches your desired creaminess and finish off with the squeeze of lemon.

5. Serve with a drizzle of brown butter or olive oil, chopped chives, and toasted breadcrumbs (if you feel like it).

No recipe - just vibes.

You can’t go wrong with an asparagus risotto!

in my all-time favourite Nymphenburg bowl

Ingredients (serves 2 - or 1, if really hungry)

• 2 cups asparagus broth

• 2 tablespoons butter

• A splash of olive oil

• 1 small shallot, chopped

• ½ cup Arborio rice

• 1/4 cup dry white wine

• 2 white asparagus stalks, peeled and cut into thin slices

• 2 green asparagus stalks, ends chopped off and cut into thin slices

• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Keep the asparagus broth warm in a small pot.

2. In a separate medium sized pot, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the chopped shallot and a pinch of salt. Sauté for a few minutes, til fragrant.

3. Stir in the rice, making sure each grain is well coated with the butter and oil. Toast the rice for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

4. Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan and simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is nearly gone.

5. Add a small ladle’s worth of warm broth and stir gently until it’s almost fully absorbed—this should take about 1–2 minutes. Repeat this every few minutes, stirring as you go. After the 6th broth pour, add in the sliced asparagus.

6. Continue adding the broth in increments for about 20 minutes, stirring throughout. After about 20 minutes, give the rice a test bite. Once it’s to your liking, remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan until smooth and creamy. Salt and pepper to taste!

Thank you Noma Projects for inventing Dashi RDX. It can zhuzh up just about anything - but especially soups, in my opinion! This is so simple I feel wary calling it a recipe.

Serves 1

• 1 package of udon noodles

• 1.5 cups (350ish ml) asparagus broth

• A generous splash of Noma Projects Dashi RDX

• 3 blanched asparagus tips

• Wild garlic flowers for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Warm up the broth in one small pot, while you prepare the udon noodles (and the asparagus tips, if need be) in another small pot.

2. Place it all in a bowl with a few spoonfuls of the Dashi RDX for extra flavour. The wild garlic flowers are a punchy extra - not mandatory but recommended!

I just have to share this extra green asparagus recipe because it’s too good not to. It is inspired by a Tanja Grandits recipe - with a few minor changes. I used barley instead of bulgur and crushed walnuts instead of sunflower seeds. I improvised the red onions and ended up with a first caramelised, then kinda-pickled hybrid, which was sweet, umami, and tart all at once - delicious!

Salad Ingredients

• 1 cup barley

• 500g green asparagus, cut into slices on the diagonal

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• A small handful of chopped walnuts

Mint dressing:

• One small handful fresh mint leaves

• 1/2 cup rapeseed oil

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1/3 cup lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

• A pinch of salt & pepper

Caramelised-pickled-red onions

• 2 red onions, thinly sliced

• 2 tablespoons butter

• A pinch of sugar

• 1 lemon, juiced

Instructions

1. Make the dressing by blending everything in a high-speed blender.

2. Start with the caramelised-pickled onions: heat the butter in a medium-sized pan. Cook the onions til soft, transluscent, and fragrant. Stir in a pinch of sugar and continue cooking. Once they smell quite sweet, squeeze in the lemon. This will make them nice and pink!

3. While the onions are cooking, cook the barley according to the package instructions and set aside.

4. Sauté the asparagus in the olive oil in a pan for just a few minutes.

5. Assemble everything and eat immediately! If you aren’t eating it all immediately, assemble each portion just before eating.

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THAT’S ALL for today… thank you for being here!