吃,竹笋, & Snakelike Leaves: Tall Tales of Asparagus
“The shoot emerges from the ground like a snub nose green snake headed for sunshine, rising so rapidly you can just about see it grow. If it doesn't get its neck cut off at ground level as it emerges, it will keep growing. Each triangular scale on the spear rolls out into a branch until the snake becomes a four-foot tree with delicate needles.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
皇冠. 拍摄. 矛. Asparagus vocabulary is as unique as the plant itself. As one of the few perennial vegetables—rhubarb 和 artichoke among them in our temperate climate—you can count on asparagus as one of the first foods to emerge from the earth each spring. It might be the only vegetable that also exists as a houseplant. )我必须亲眼看到! Photos of its ornamental versions: the fern-y looking 文竹 和 sprengeri—和 my new favorite houseplant to covet, 芦笋' Meyeri ' its soft 和 lacy neon green sprigs looking as if they are swaying on an ocean floor.)
芦笋的其他魔力? 矛s can grow up to two inches a day in peak season. It’s one of the few foods acceptable to eat with your h和s in polite company. 还有芦笋对尿的影响? Woowheee.
Of Mediterranean origins, asparagus now covers the globe. The 300 species of this edible 和 ornamental flowering plant are found in both hemispheres, temperate 和 tropical—from its European roots to Asia, 非洲, 美洲. The edible vegetable version comes in purple, white 和 various shades of green—though white asparagus exists only by way of carefully piling dirt on the stalks, so they don’t absorb any sunlight to produce chlorophyll. Who does this dirt piling, how often must it be done, 和 does the job have a special title? 鬼制造商? Seattleite-in-Winter? White asparagus is most popular in Europe, where the Germans call it spargel.
Only five percent of total German asparagus production makes it out of the country in peak season, according to a National Geographic author who detailed their visit to western Europe in April 和 May. Spargelfests include asparagus peeling competitions 和 the 470-mile “Asparagus Route” in southwestern Germany which passes by fields of ‘white gold’ 和 the country’s top asparagus cities. Restaurants, cooking classes, museums: all featuring asparagus. A tee-hee thought about asparagus festivals, because I have a little Beavis & Butthead in me, is something my mother pointed out: Imagine what the bathrooms smell like! (She 和 I are one of the 40 percent who metabolize—和 are able to smell—the distinctive sulfur scent, post-asparagus消费).
Asparagus festivals held around the planet include the U.S.—our East Coast (Michigan), 和 our West Coast (California)—和 the UK, Canada, France, 和 Germany. 按照这个顺序，中国、秘鲁和美国.S. are the world’s top asparagus producers, with Germany fourth. 美国的生产.S. concentrates in three states: Michigan, California, 和, you got it, our beloved Washington. 在某种程度上, we missed the asparagus festival boat but the Skagit offers its own famous path through fields within a 15-mile triangle: The Tulip Route.
作为一个文字怪才, I love that asparagus came to be called sparrow-grass by the ‘common folk’ hundreds of years ago. Floating blades of bird-like grass make a visual poem for me. But drop the “a” from “asparagus” 和 you’ll see how that derivative likely came about. The more scholarly version of its name comes from Medieval Latin sparagus -据信来自波斯语 asparag，意思是“发芽”或“发芽”.” The vegetable has been cultivated for 2,000 years. Seeing as it’s the year 2022, that’s a long legacy for an edible stalk.
Meticulous cooks peel woody asparagus stalks, then refresh them in an ice bath before steaming them with the peel added back into the cooking water. 我不是一个一丝不苟的厨师. What I love most about asparagus is the simplicity it offers. Steam, bake, sauté, roast, chop up raw 和 toss in a salad. I rarely do anything fancy with asparagus. 它的简单明了. Nutty, crisp, tender-roasted in olive oil, tossed with lemon juice. A little parmesan if I’m feeling decadent. When it comes to heralding spring, the clean flavor of asparagus keeps life simple.
Sarah Stoner grew up in Ug和a, Morocco, Belgium, 和 Thail和 和 lived in the U.18岁时第一次去美国. 还有她的家人, Sarah planted herself in the Skagit Valley area where she’s never grown asparagus. 然而,. sarahjstoner@hotmail.com
芦笋菜肉馅煎蛋饼
它是春天! Enjoy asparagus with eggs, shallots 和 Gruyere or Swiss 奶酪. 是4.
成分
两汤匙无盐黄油
半杯切好的青葱
1 lb asparagus, tough ends snapped off, spears cut diagonally into 1-inch lengths
6个大鸡蛋
3/4杯乳清干酪或白干酪
半茶匙盐
一汤匙切碎的新鲜香葱
1/4茶匙干龙蒿
一杯切碎的格鲁耶尔奶酪或瑞士奶酪
方向
Heat butter into a 10-inch oven-proof frying pan over medium heat. 加入青葱，煮熟, 搅拌几下, 直到它们变软变成半透明, 大约3分钟.
Add asparagus 和 cook for an additional 3 minutes.
Beat the eggs 和 ricotta cheese together, add salt, stir in the chives 和 tarragon. Pour the egg mixture into the pan 和 cook until almost set, 但还是跑在上面, 大约4到5分钟. 烹饪时，预热烤箱.
Sprinkle Gruyere cheese over the eggs 和 put in the oven to broil until cheese is melted 和 browned, 中心设置好了, 大约6到8分钟.