Gryphon's Aeire Food Fact - Asparagus

Spear a taste of spring
Healthful asparagus grows in popularity and availability

April 19, 2001 / Detroit News

By Rhonda B. Graham / Gannett News Service

      And we thought it was all up to the red, red robin. Turns out 
that asparagus is an equally recognizable harbinger of spring.

     "It's one of the first fresh vegetables to come up," says Mary 
Fifer-Fennemore of Fifer Orchards, near Dover, Del.

     Though you can buy it frozen, it's practically a rite of spring 
for cooks who love fresh asparagus to prepare the green spears.

     So start the water boiling.

     Although elegant and nutritious, asparagus has lost some of its 
status as a gourmet food because of its growing appeal.

     "Years ago, it sort of had that reputation of being the high-class 
vegetable," says Scott Walker, vice-president of Jersey Asparagus 
Farms. "A lot more people are eating it, and a lot more people are 
developing a taste for it."

     Asparagus is as virtuous a vegetable as, say, broccoli. Low in 
calories and high in flavor, a serving of four asparagus spears (60 
grams) contains 10 calories, 1 gram protein, 2 grams carbohydrates 
and only traces of fat. It's also rich in vitamin A and riboflavin 
and a good source of thiamin.

     Michigan ranks third behind California and Washington in the 
production of asparagus. Michigan is known as a processing state for 
asparagus, which means the crop is machine-cut rather than manually 
harvested as it is elsewhere. Only a small portion of Michigan's crop 
is sold fresh. Most restaurants get their fresh asparagus from 
California during summer, fall and winter, but as the spring 
continues, their orders will be filled with crops from elsewhere.

     Only a small portion of Michigan's crop is sold fresh.

     According to the group that sponsors the National Asparagus 
Festival in Shelby, Mich., each June, the crop got its name from the 
ancient Greeks, who used the word to refer to all tender shoots 
picked and savored while young.

     As early as 200 B.C. the Romans had how-to-grow directions for 
asparagus. They were the first to preserve it by freezing.

     Some cookbook authors are busy touting roasting and grilling the 
green stalks, but either method can quickly produce wrinkled, tough, 
overcooked asparagus.

     A better bet: a simple, brief boil. Here's how: Boil about 1 inch 
of lightly salted water in a large skillet. Add trimmed asparagus 
spears in a single layer, if possible, the tips all on the same side. 
If you like, prop the tender, quick-cooking tips slightly out of the 
cooking water on a crumpled, flattened band of foil placed in the 
skillet. Cook, uncovered, a few minutes even for the thickest stalks. 
The tender tips will be done by the time the butt ends of the stalks 
are tender.

     Before cooking, be sure to snap off the toughest butt ends and 
simmer them in soup stock or discard.

     For a company meal, or if you can't stand to eat too much 
nutritious dietary fiber, use a potato peeler to lightly scrape off 
most of the green peel from the lower half of each stalk. You'll lose 
most of the scales that way, but some of the good, grassy flavor, too.

     Even closely trimmed, raw asparagus is delicious as part of a 
vegetable platter for dipping with ranch dressing or watercress 
mayonnaise. It's best to blanch the spears though, just a quick dip 
in deep, boiling water, to brighten the green color. Wrap each 
blanched, well-drained spear in paper-thin prosciutto for a spring 
hors d'oeuvre or serve as part of a deviled egg platter.

     The cardinal rule is to never overcook it, by any method. If you 
hold up one spear, and it's bending low, it was cooked too long.

     If you don't enjoy plain asparagus, try a light Asian stir-fry 
with diagonal cuts, tossed with sesame seeds and sliced green onions. 
Or spread toasted sourdough bread with a thin layer of ham salad. Top 
with an evenly trimmed row of cooked spears for an asparagus raft. 
Drizzle with this sauce: Warm sour cream and flavor with grated 
onion, mayonnaise and yellow mustard. Garnish with sliced hard-cooked 
egg.

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Success tips
     * Select brittle stalks of asparagus with tightly closed scales on 
the tips. Season for fresh asparagus is March through June.

     * Any vegetable as exceptional as fresh asparagus evokes strong 
opinions as to its proper preparation. One school of thought 
advocates snapping off the tough ends by hand, grasping each stalk 
near the cut end and breaking the stalk just above the point where it 
becomes woody and tough. Another method calls for removing the tough 
peel with a paring knife or vegetable peeler, beginning at the stem 
end and stopping just short of the tender tips. Either way is 
effective.

     * Refrigerate fresh asparagus stalks in a plastic bag, with their 
cut ends wrapped in damp paper towels, for up to one week.

     * To steam asparagus, use a saucepan or pot tall enough to 
accommodate upright asparagus stalks. Bring 1 to 2 inches of water to 
a boil in bottom of pan. Arrange trimmed asparagus upright in basket 
steamer; place steamer in pan, and steam over moderate heat until 
asparagus is crisp-tender (4 to 6 minutes); drain thoroughly.
     -- Annette Gooch / Primary Color


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