Today, Little T is looking forward to buying a new toy after breakfast with his pocket money.  Me?  I’m looking forward to buying asparagus at the market as the season is FINALLY here (after a few weeks of delay thanks to a cold, snowy winter).  I wonder if it is a sign of aging when you start looking forward to eating your vegetables.

During one of our after dinner conversations this week, Hubby and I discovered that asparagus is our favourite vegetable, since tomatoes are scientifically a fruit (and also our mutual favourite).  Lucky for us, the Spargelsaison is huge in Germany in both white and green.  I remember the first year we lived here, one of the local bistros had a whole page of asparagus features – and it was only mid-April! From then on, we ate asparagus weekly through to June.

That’s the real beauty about asparagus. When you can get it in season, the taste is incomparable to its imported wannabees.  While back in Canada this year in late March early April, I was surprised to be served asparagus wondering if the season was extremely early this year. I forgot that asparagus is available all year in Canada. Here in Germany, it is defiantly not widely available all year. Hubby and I can’t recall even seeing it when it is not in season, apart from asparagus from Spain that arrives a few weeks before the German season starts.

Asparagus is not only hugely grown and consumed in Germany, it is also hugely celebrated.  Many cities host Spargelfest and even elect a queen in the name of Spargel.  Hubby enjoys seeing the fields with mounds of dirt piled up over the asparagus that keeps them white, as he knows it will soon be sold at the market. 

The delightful thing about asparagus is that it can be prepared in so many ways.  White asparagus is yummy with Hubby’s hollandaise sauce (yes, the same sauce he uses for his plate-licking eggs benedict dish) and blended up it makes a lovely, velvety soup.  The green is best when drizzled with a little olive oil, tossed with salt and pepper, and grilled on the BBQ (as pictured above with a side of grilled salmon).  If it is pouring rain, then baking it in the oven is just as yummy.  Also out of this world is asparagus risotto with feta and parmesan prepared with chicken stock.  There are tons of other ways to serve up this vegetable wonder – I recently found a new asparagus salad that I plan to try this year.

And the best part about asparagus? It’s good for you! High in potassium, it is also known to prevent rheumatism and heart disease.  And, it is apparently a libido booster.  Maybe that’s why Hubby likes it so much.

The only downfall to asparagus is if you have a gene that produces a nasty urine smell.  It is almost enough to make you to refrain from ever eating it again.

Almost never.