White Asperagus?

Mark Lipton said:

The Ranger said:

I was at the grocery store today and saw (much to my surprise)
white asparagus for US$6.99 per bunch. Aside from the missing
green, why would anyone buy this stuff? What's the appeal?

Taste and texture. White asparagus tends to be a bit softer and less
woody than the green and it has a subtler, less "green" flavor (less
bitter for some). I love the green, but if you want to drink wine with
the meal, white is far easier on wine than green is (which tends to
impart bitter flavors to any wine drunk with it).

I wonder what the difference is nutritionally.

V.
--
Veronique Chez Sheep

Dave Smith said:

jmcquown said:

Isn't it funny how many things were only trotted out for "holidays"?
Mom usually didn't serve asparagus (canned, of course) unless it was
Easter.

Maybe she viewed it a traditional Easter food because it came into
season around Easter. It is one of the first spring veggies to enjoy.

But not the canned stuff! I don't know what she was thinking!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Butter was reserved for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

My mother tried margarine a few times when money was tight. My father
would have nothing to do with that. He insisted on butter.

Good man! My mother used margarine, always... except on holidays. Then we
got butter. It was a golden rule (pardon the pun).

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wondering, is there some food calendar I don't know about that says,
"Thou Shalt Not"?!

My food calendar is the seasons of the local fruits and vegetables.
They always taste so much better than the imported products.

Your food calendar is like mine. I'm afraid there was no such calendar for
instant mashed potatoes and Freezer Queen (whatever in gravy!) "family"
dinners. Mom didn't really like to cook. She fed us because she had to.

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And is there a law you have to burn the rolls? Here, have a timer 🙂

My wife uses the smoke detector for a timer.

Veronique wrote on Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:29:43 -0000:

V> On Jul 5, 7:23 am, Mark Lipton <[email hidden]> wrote:
??>> The Ranger wrote:
??>>> I was at the grocery store today and saw (much to my
??>>> surprise) white asparagus for US$6.99 per bunch. Aside
??>>> from the missing green, why would anyone buy this stuff?
??>>> What's the appeal?
??>>
??>> Taste and texture. White asparagus tends to be a bit
??>> softer and less woody than the green and it has a subtler,
??>> less "green" flavor (less bitter for some). I love the
??>> green, but if you want to drink wine with the meal, white
??>> is far easier on wine than green is (which tends to impart
??>> bitter flavors to any wine drunk with it).

V> I wonder what the difference is nutritionally.

V> V.

As I have mentioned and as did the Ranger, I think the major
difference is the amount of chlorophyll present which I believe
has a taste. I am tempted to quote Ogden Nash on the alleged use
of chlorophyll as a deodorant.

"Why reeks the goat on yonder hill,
Who seems to dote on chlorophyll?"

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Dave Smith said:

The Ranger said:

I was at the grocery store today and saw (much to my surprise)
white asparagus for US$6.99 per bunch. Aside from the missing
green, why would anyone buy this stuff? What's the appeal?

I have been in Germany in early May on two occasions and is was Spargle
(asparagus) season, and they had white and green. I can't say that I
noticed a big difference, except that their asparagus was a lot thicker
than the stuff we get here. Some of the restaurants had special Spargle
menus. It wasn't cheap, but servings were huge.

Norma and I were in Germany last month. Most of the
asparagus sold there was white. It's a matter of taste. -
Tony

Tony Lima said:

Dave Smith said:

The Ranger said:

I was at the grocery store today and saw (much to my surprise)
white asparagus for US$6.99 per bunch. Aside from the missing
green, why would anyone buy this stuff? What's the appeal?

I have been in Germany in early May on two occasions and is was
Spargle (asparagus) season, and they had white and green. I can't
say that I noticed a big difference, except that their asparagus was
a lot thicker than the stuff we get here. Some of the restaurants
had special Spargle menus. It wasn't cheap, but servings were huge.

Norma and I were in Germany last month. Most of the
asparagus sold there was white. It's a matter of taste. -
Tony

Apparently it's a matter of expense. The farmers have to cover it to
prevent the asparagus from turning green. Therefore they get to charge more
for it.

Mark Lipton said:

The Ranger said:

I was at the grocery store today and saw (much to my surprise)
white asparagus for US$6.99 per bunch. Aside from the missing
green, why would anyone buy this stuff? What's the appeal?

Taste and texture. White asparagus tends to be a bit softer and less
woody than the green and it has a subtler, less "green" flavor (less
bitter for some). I love the green, but if you want to drink wine
with the meal, white is far easier on wine than green is (which tends
to impart bitter flavors to any wine drunk with it).

Mark Lipton

You should snap off the "woody" ends before cooking, regardless. I happen
to like asparagus that tastes like asparagus. I don't want some muted
version that costs twice as much. Doesn't make sense. If you don't like
asparagus don't buy it.

Jill

Becca said:

Whew! It is nice to hear someone else say, that asparagus is not their
thing. My mother served it when I was a kid, so I ate it (us kids
called it aspe-RAG-us)

LOL. I had three brothers. We pronounced it ASSperGAS :-)

, and I will eat it when it is served on a cruise

Quoted message said:

ship, but I have not cooked it at home in years.

I love it and every spring I look forward to fresh asparagus and have it
3-4 times each week until the end of the season From then on I buy it only
occasionally because the imported stuff just isn't as good as the fresh
local produce.

I'm wondering if it makes your pee smell as bad as the green ones!

Tony Lima said:

Quoted message said:

I have been in Germany in early May on two occasions and is was Spargle
(asparagus) season, and they had white and green. I can't say that I
noticed a big difference, except that their asparagus was a lot thicker
than the stuff we get here. Some of the restaurants had special Spargle
menus. It wasn't cheap, but servings were huge.

Norma and I were in Germany last month. Most of the
asparagus sold there was white. It's a matter of taste. -

They do love their white asparagus, and it isn't cheap. I saw it in the
market for about $10 per pound. I ordered dinner off the Spargle menu one
night. I misunderstood. I thought it was 26 DM but as it turned out, when
you ordered the 26 DM asparagus dish the veal side dish was an extra 10
DM. But et me tell you it was a honking big serving of asparagus. They was
close to a pound of the stuff on the plate.

merryb said:

I'm wondering if it makes your pee smell as bad as the green ones!

Oh gawd, let's don't start that. Shall we ask if you use NADS, too?

The Ranger said:

I was at the grocery store today and saw (much to my surprise)
white asparagus for US$6.99 per bunch. Aside from the missing
green, why would anyone buy this stuff? What's the appeal?

The Ranger

well, with less chloryphyll, dos it make your pee stink less? more
refined european thing, ya know, the queen don;t want her pee to stink.

jmcquown said:

Quoted message said:

Norma and I were in Germany last month. Most of the
asparagus sold there was white. It's a matter of taste. -
Tony

Apparently it's a matter of expense. The farmers have to cover it to
prevent the asparagus from turning green. Therefore they get to charge more
for it.

Covering it would not be much of a problem. They likely drag some plow-like
device behind a tractor to pull up the soil and push it up over the mounds.
I imagine the tough part is having to dig down to harvest it. It is much
easier to just lop it off at the ground.

jmcquown said:

You should snap off the "woody" ends before cooking, regardless. I happen
to like asparagus that tastes like asparagus. I don't want some muted
version that costs twice as much. Doesn't make sense. If you don't like
asparagus don't buy it.

That is the best way to get rid of the woody end, but be careful not to
snap off too much or you will be losing a lot of good asparagus. My wife
used to grab them too far up the spear and ended up snapping off about half
of it. I hold them further down and just snap off an inch or so.

merryb said:

I'm wondering if it makes your pee smell as bad as the green ones!

Bring me a pound of each and I will provide you with samples to test :-)

Thanks, but no thanks!

Veronique <[email hidden]> hath wroth:

Quoted message said:

Mark Lipton said:

Taste and texture. White asparagus tends to be a bit softer and less
woody than the green and it has a subtler, less "green" flavor (less
bitter for some). I love the green, but if you want to drink wine with
the meal, white is far easier on wine than green is (which tends to
impart bitter flavors to any wine drunk with it).

Quoted message said:

I wonder what the difference is nutritionally.

"Comparison of textural and compositional attributes of green and
white asparagus produced under commercial conditions"
<http://www.springerlink.com/content/p82433825v176g88/>

The white spears were more fibrous, contained more nitrates,
less ascorbic acid and total soluble phenols and had a lower
pH than the green spears.

Hmmm... apparently they claim that white is more "woody" than green.
Which is correct?

--
Jeff Liebermann [email hidden]
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Dave Smith said:

jmcquown said:

You should snap off the "woody" ends before cooking, regardless. I
happen to like asparagus that tastes like asparagus. I don't want
some muted version that costs twice as much. Doesn't make sense.
If you don't like asparagus don't buy it.

That is the best way to get rid of the woody end, but be careful not
to snap off too much or you will be losing a lot of good asparagus.
My wife used to grab them too far up the spear and ended up snapping
off about half of it. I hold them further down and just snap off an
inch or so.

When it's ready it snaps at the right point all by itself 🙂

jmcquown said:

You should snap off the "woody" ends before cooking, regardless.

You can also peel those ends with a vegetable peeler,
rather than snapping them off (or snap off less of them).

Dave Smith said:

Tony Lima said:

Quoted message said:

I have been in Germany in early May on two occasions and is was Spargle
(asparagus) season, and they had white and green. I can't say that I
noticed a big difference, except that their asparagus was a lot thicker
than the stuff we get here. Some of the restaurants had special Spargle
menus. It wasn't cheap, but servings were huge.

Norma and I were in Germany last month. Most of the
asparagus sold there was white. It's a matter of taste. -

They do love their white asparagus, and it isn't cheap. I saw it in the
market for about $10 per pound. I ordered dinner off the Spargle menu one
night. I misunderstood. I thought it was 26 DM but as it turned out, when
you ordered the 26 DM asparagus dish the veal side dish was an extra 10
DM. But et me tell you it was a honking big serving of asparagus. They was
close to a pound of the stuff on the plate.

What's a "DM?" <ggg>. Must have been quite a while since
you were in Germany! - Tony

Jude said:

well, with less chloryphyll, dos it make your pee stink less? more
refined european thing, ya know, the queen don;t want her pee to stink.

Nope. The smell comes from dimethylsulfide, produced by metabolism of
some sulfur-containing molecules in asparagus. Chlorophyll's got
nothing to do with it.

Mark Lipton