Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Asparagus
Traditionally, it's the egg that represents spring's promise of rebirth. A much better candid-
ate would be the asparagus. In the first place, it tastes better. Can you imagine anything
more enticing than a big platter of fat spears, boiled or steamed just to the perfect point of
mousse-iness and then drizzled with nothing more than a mild olive oil and fresh lemon
juice? In a just world, that feast would be as required for the first day of spring as a roast
turkey is for the heart of fall.
The cult of asparagus lovers - though still somewhat small when compared to, say, the
mass religion that surrounds the summer tomato - tends to be no less passionate. It is,
however, much more deeply divided, with many competing sects that are willing to go to
the mat over various elements of doctrine. Asparagus lovers will argue about the merits of
fat or thin spears. They'll debate the necessity of peeling. They'll quibble over methods for
removing the spear's tough base. A tiny group of the truly orthodox holds out for the su-
premacy of the white asparagus. Fans will even argue about their beloved vegetable's effect
on their urine.
Let's take a closer look at these issues. Believers in skinny spears claim that their as-
paragus is superior because it doesn't need to be peeled. It is delicate and crisp. Its very
slenderness is evidence that it truly is the first spear of spring. Followers of the fatties re-
spond equally dogmatically. Their spears aren't tough at all, they protest. Further, they are
obviously the one true choice because what could be more fitting for the promise of spring
than a rich, juicy texture? In reality, they're both right. Skinny or fat, all asparagus is good
in its own way. You just need to know how to use it.
First, a slender spear is not a sign of the first harvest. In fact, more often than not, the op-
posite is true. Whether asparagus is thick or thin depends on many things, but among them
is what farmers call vigor - how healthy the plant is. On this issue the scientific evidence is
clear: plants just beginning to produce make fatter spears. It's not as cut-and-dried as that,
though, because the same plant will produce a whole range of sizes. Asparagus grows from
a mass of roots, and each mass sends up scores of spears. Those that come up closer to the
center, where the plant stores its nutrients, are fatter. Those farther out on the fringe are
thinner.
