The History of Asparagus
We look east and west to find the origins of asparagus, but are not able to state its origins with certainty. Asparagus appears late in the history of Chinese foods, but today Taiwan has made a major industry of exporting asparagus. Asparagus grows best in sandy soil in cooler climates, yet we hear of it in the history books written by the ancient Romans. It is depicted in ancient Egyptian writing and has grown in Syria and Spain since ancient times.
To the Greeks, asparagus was a wild plant. It was the Roman writer Cato who first detailed instructions for raising asparagus - the first known cultivated asparagus that we find in written history. Pliny the Elder, one of our major sources for food history, includes asparagus in his Materia Medica. Though he mostly refers to wild asparagus, he mentions a large asparagus grown in Ravenna. Juvenal served "some wild asparagus, gathered by the bailiff's wife," another reference to wild asparagus. Apicius gave recipes but they may or may not have been for cultivated asparagus. The Emperor Augustus is supposed to have been very fond of it and to have originated a saying, Velocius quam asparagi coquantur - Quicker than you can cook asparagus. Bartolomeo Sacchi, better known as Platina, who was a papal librarian, not a cook, mentions asparagus in his work, “On Right Pleasure and Good Health” in about 1475. This is a hidden history.
King Louis XVI of France, who did
indeed dress in silken splendor when he dined, was so in love with asparagus
that his gardeners were instructed to grow it in hothouses for his year
round pleasure. Globalization has made us almost as lucky as kings without the
risk of being beheaded, and today we import asparagus from Mexico or Peru in the winter.
It was in the nineteenth century when dinners became great shows of wealth that asparagus took its place in history as the pampered princess (we do think of this as feminine) of vegetables. Perhaps it was the cost of asparagus that elevated it to such heights and even Brillat-
Savarin stated, "They are certainly very fine, but at such a price no one but the King or some prince will be able to eat them."
Wild asparagus is still found and used today, growing in very thin stalks in the hills of Provence. These fine stalks are often chopped and used in omelets, just as we might peel and chop the larger commercial stalks of asparagus.
Asparagus in America
Who brought asparagus to the New World, we do not know, but the colonists had asparagus. It may have grown in the wild as asparagus was given one of those pervasive American nicknames - 'Ambushed Asparagus.'
When searching for food history in America, we always turn to Thomas Jefferson. Among his many intellectual gifts, Jefferson was a great naturalist and gardener. One of his gardens in Monticello was reserved for asparagus, one of the few vegetables in which Jefferson documented performing some sort of cultural technique: asparagus beds were "littered" (mulched) with tobacco leaves and "dressed" (fertilized) with manure. Mary Randolph recorded her recipe for cooking asparagus - one that has changed but little through time. The asparagus stalks were scraped, then they were tied in bundles and cooked in boiling water. Perhaps she read the Emperor Augustus decree on the quick cooking of asparagus, for she noted that "a minute or two more boiling destroys {color and flavor}."
Once again, the asparagus remains elusive. We know that a John Snedicker ran a roadhouse in Brooklyn, then the 'country' surrounding Manhattan in which he offered asparagus dinners. We can hypothesize that this was wild asparagus plucked from the country lanes of Brooklyn. And in an early treatise by John Randolph, A Treatise on Gardening by a Citizen of Virginia, written just before the Revolution, he writes of broccoli that, "...the stems will eat like Asparagus..." This would indicate that even in pre-Revolutionary America, asparagus was familiar enough to be used for comparison to the lesser-known broccoli.
Growing Asparagus
Asparagus, true to its elusive nature, is an underground plant. Asparagus spears grow from a crown that is planted about a foot deep in sandy soils and they are white until they are exposed to air. Asparagus is a perennial and will offer its goodness for 30 to 35 years. A high-maintenance beauty, it wants to be nourished and cared for with all the demands of a princess who needs her manicures and pedicures. Asparagus wants a light soil, but needs to be nurtured with compost or manure, needs to be mulched and have soil piled up around its regal head. It does not relinquish spears the first year of its growth, but waits for three years after the crowns have been planted.
Buying and Storing Asparagus
When buying fresh asparagus, look for crisp,
straight, bright green stalks with compact
tips. One pound of fresh asparagus
will make 4 servings.
Store fresh asparagus by wrapping the bottom
of the stalks in a damp paper towel, putting
them in a plastic bag and refrigerating. Plan
to use within 2 days.
Prepare fresh asparagus by first breaking off
the heavy end of each spear where it snaps
easily.
Keep fresh asparagus covered in the refrigerator. To keep asparagus at its freshest, cover with damp paper towels around the stems. Some people prefer to stand asparagus upright in a container that has a couple of inches of cold water. If you do this, be sure to put a plastic bag loosely around the tops. Put loosely as you don't want to suffocate the asparagus.
Asparagus Nutrition
Asparagus is rich in nutrition. Low in sodium, high in potassium, it has no fat or cholesterol. It is rich in thiamin, Vitamin C and
Vitamin A and is an excellent source of folic acid.
One-half cup of cooked asparagus
contains a mere 24 calories but supplies a lot of fiber. It is a source of rutin and vitamin B6. Rutin strengthens capillary walls.
The high amount of folic acid (also called folate) is good news. Folic acid promotes the health of our cells. Folic acid also helps repair aging or damaged cells. As has been widely publicized, folic acid is also essential for reproductive health. It is recommended that women of child-bearing age consume a lot of foods with folic acid. Go for that asparagus!
Asparagine is a non-essential amino acid which was first isolated from asparagus in 1932. The smell noted in the urine after eating asparagus is attributed to the breakdown of asparagine. Asparagine is important to the nervous system to maintain balance and to transform amino acids. Eat asparagus for taste and nutrition.
How to Cook Asparagus
Considering that asparagus is an underground plant, you want to wash it well to remove sand
or grit.
Once we asparagus lovers dutifully purchased asparagus pots - special pots that cooked the heavier stem in balance with the cherished tips. This is not necessary if you peel the base of any heavy stalk.
At the base of the stem is the inedible part of the asparagus. All the cook needs to do is to snap off that part of the stem. The asparagus is ready to help the cook - it will snap off at the perfect spot. If the stems are very thin, they need no peeling, but if you have thicker stalks, the lower part of the stalk should be lightly peeled to even out the cooking with the more delicate asparagus tips.
If you immerse asparagus in boiling water, they will cook in about 4 minutes. Our preferred method to cook asparagus is steaming which retains more nutrition. Steaming, like boiling, take about 4 to 5 minutes.
Asparagus can also be oven-roasted. Drizzle a little oil over the asparagus, roll to be sure the stalks are evenly coated and cook in a hot oven (450 degrees F) for about 8 to 10 minutes. It can be stir-fried by cutting in small pieces and cooking in a wok or frying pan for about 5 to 7 minutes. If you slice on the diagonal, you keep the cooking time down as the diagonal slice exposes more of the inside of the plant. Grilling is also acceptable and, like roasting, each spear should be protected by oil. Turn the spears once in the grilling
If you are making a salad, boiling or steaming is the best method. When the spears are tender and cooked, run them immediately under cold water to stop the cooking process.
The Elusive Nature of the Asparagus
In an essay entitled "Bruscandoli" the great food writer Elizabeth David recounts a lunch she ate in Venice. Here she was served a risotto made with bruscandoli which she was told was wild asparagus. The next day she went to local markets in search of this wild asparagus, found some in a local market and was told by the vendor that it was the end of the season. She brought her treasure back to the hotel and put in in a jar of water. Alas for Ms. David, the maid threw out her bruscandoli and she was never to see it again. The disappearance of her wild asparagus seems appropriate for the asparagus is elusive.
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