Day 131 – Asparagus – pure Dutch “White Gold”

Posted by Life with Lizzi on May 11, 2011 · 2 Comments 

Lieve, my colleague at work, suffers as much as I do from the long boring journeys in the car, criss-crossing the borders of Holland, Germany and Belgium.  She has however, found an even more interesting pit stop than a trip to the local Albert Heijn supermarket when in Holland.  She stops by the side of the road in the Limburg provence and buys fresh Asparagus from the fields.  So it was lovely to get a call in the office on Monday, with the question, can I bring a kilo for you?  Perfect!

I’ve found the recipe (a version of what our Belgian friend Pieter serves), and I’m ready to go.  Just have to wait for Hubbie to return after the swimming ‘marathon’ that marks our Wednesday nights, and we can start cooking.

By the way, did you know that you have to store asparagus in a damp towel in the fridge (interesting but true).  I guess its to keep the asparagus thinking it’s still underground and therefore fresher?

Other interesting Asparagus facts include;

……

Recipe for the pure white Dutch asparagus:

4 servings

• 1 kg asparagus
• salt
• 4 hard-boiled eggs
• 8 slices cooked ham
• or 4 pieces cooked salmon
• springs of parsley
• 100 g butter
• nutmeg

Cut between 1 and 3 cm off the thick end of the asparagus, then scrape off the tough outer skin with a sharp knife to within about 2½ cm from the tip. Put the asparagus in a large pan with enough boiling, salted water to just cover them and boil them gently for about 45 minutes. Drain and reserve the liquid for soup. Arrange the asparagus on a warm dish and garnish with halved hard-boiled eggs, rolls of ham (or pieces of salmon), and springs of parsley. Melt the butter and serve butter and nutmeg separately. Delicious with boiled new potatoes.

recipe from;

Asparagus – “White Gold” in the merry months of May and June – Dutch Speciality Dining | HollandTour.org.

Related articles

• Grilled Asparagus with Lavender Salt (clubdinein.com)
• Race to harvest the asparagus avalanche as bumper crop arrives two weeks early (dailymail.co.uk)

Filed under Family Life, Kitchen Life (my recipes) · Tagged with Albert Heijn, Asparagus, Holland, Limburg, postaday2011, Recipe