Simply Asparagus
Today I did not have to wake up at 5am to catch another flight. (Yippee!) I got to sleep in my own comfy bed and wake up when I felt like it. I cannot tell you how good this feels. After 4 weeks of non-stop business trips and stylish restaurant food, I am grateful to have an RTT* day to potter around at home and have a home cooked meal. I am grateful that it is possible to eat well without too much effort. Sometimes the best way is to eat simply.
As I was walking by the verger along Rue de Rivoli towards its end in the Marias, I remembered Nicky’s entry about purple asparagus from Delicious Days .I promptly stopped to buy a botte (bundle). Asparagus is available in abundance in France from March to late June only. After which the asparagus sold are imported from elsewhere and the prices sore sky-high.
There are 3 main categories of asparagus: green, white and purple. Green asparagus is the most common and is usually harvested at the height of 7 to 8 inches. White asparagus is green asparagus that is grown in the shade and covered in soil. It is picked as soon as it emerges from the ground. It is usually two to three times the price of green asparagus since there is more labor involved in cultivating white asparagus. White asparagus are usually short and stumpy. I find white asparagus quite bland on its own. My favorite is the purple variety, which is flavorful and smells fruity, but rare in Paris. Purple asparagus is similar to green asparagus in size.
Tip 1: choose asparagus with firm closed stalks. (See picture.) Asparagus with opened tips are starting to dry out. Asparagus with soft floppy heads and yellow heads are starting to flower. If you see fernlike stalks growing from the head, you must never buy any vegetable from that green grocer ever again.
Tip 2: Try to buy asparagus that are all about the same height and width, so they will cook evenly. Otherwise, cook the fat ones for a min before putting the others into the pot.
And now, I get into the unpleasant business of informing you that asparagus will make your pee stink. Do not panic, dear reader. This is normal, as our spear-like vegetable contains a sulfurous substance and it is diuretic (dehydrating like alcohol). This sulfurous substance is called “asparagine”.
This recipe is adapted from Adapted from River Café Cook Book Easy by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers (Random House: 2003)
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Asparagus with anchovy butter
Ingredients: Take the butter out of the fridge, cut into cubes and let sit in room temperature for 30 mins until softened. Rinse, pat dry and roughly chop the anchovies. Boil the asparagus in salted water until tender, about 10 mins. Drain and season. Drizzle with olive oil. |
A Sauvignon Blanc would go well with asparagus with anchovy butter.
*RTT, pronounced as “Air-Teh-Teh”, stands for Réduction de Temps du Travail. It can vary between 6 and 12 days depending on the industry and sector of work, which is negotiated between the unions and the government. In a nutshell, RTTs compensate workers in France, whose work requires them to work over and above the stipulated 35 hours per week. I get about 10 RTTs and 5 weeks of paid vacation a year. Vive La France!