The delicate flavour of this fleeting seasonal treat means it requires a deft touch in the kitchen, says our panel of stalk-fanciers
What unexpected things can I make with asparagus?
“The goal is to do as little as possible to it,” says Ben Lippett, author of How I Cook (published in September). “If you start dressing up asparagus with fancy cooking techniques, you lose its magic.” That’s not to say you should just boil the spears and be done with it, mind: “Try pairing them with relatively high-impact flavours, but nothing that will steal the show,” Lippett says. “Much as with a salad dressing, you want something with richness, fragrance, acidity and salinity.” Instead of a gribiche-style sauce, for example, sub in Kewpie (Japanese mayo), pickled ginger, chives, sesame seeds and frozen peas “to make a spoonable condiment”. Or cook asparagus chunks with lots of butter and a shot of water, then “finish with lemon and grapefruit segments, cracked hazelnuts and sheets of comté”.
Asparagus recipes often lean towards salads, which is all well and good until the weather misses the spring memo. And, in that scenario, Sophie Wyburd, author of Tucking In, has your back with a warm, in-between-seasons side. “Make a salsa verde with loads of mint, basil, parsley, capers and dijon mustard, then blister chopped asparagus in a very hot frying pan with a little water to get that steam going.” Once tender, toss with plump chickpeas: “That goes particularly well with roast lamb or chicken,” she says. Ramuel Scully, executive chef and co-owner of Scully in central London, meanwhile, steams his spears to “keep them super-sweet”, then adds some tea – “Try oolong” – to the boiling water to “infuse the asparagus with extra flavour”. Finish off with salt and a squeeze of lemon, then top with crispy chilli oil and tahini: “Both work great with asparagus.”
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