White Gold

Europe on a Plate - Third Course

White gold. That's how this vegetable is referred to in the South of the Netherlands. Once you had a taste of it, you understand why. Whether from the terroir of North-Brabant or Limburg, the asparagus is, as they say, worth its weight in gold. As I lived in The Netherlands when learning to appreciate this white gold, to my palate the asparagus from Brabant or Limburg are the best in the world.

Moving abroad also meant not eating them so much anymore in season, as I initially did not manage to find the right ones. That changed while we lived in Latvia. I heard that at a certain market, good asparagus were sold. So I drove my bike there and bought some. They were indeed very good. Later, in Germany, we also found some very good ones, and when we moved back to The Netherlands, we really got lucky. We did not live in North-Brabant or Limburg, but still we had an asparagus farm close by that sold their produce on the premises. And their white gold was of a gold standard.

It’s the season…

One of the cool things about asparagus is that they are very seasonal. If you want to have the best, you need to get them when they are in season, which roughly is in the months of April, May and June. Depending on the weather, the first ones can be harvested already in March, which was the case this year.

For a traditional way of serving them, like the Dutch way with potatoes, ham, egg and hollandaise sauce, I prefer the white ones. These grow underground. You can also get violet and green asparagus. These grow above ground. The green ones I prefer for grilling. They taste great as a side to lamb. Which is more a Mediterranean style dish.

How do you prefer your asparagus?

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