Cycle 11 – Item 117

1 (Fri) May 2020

Asperges Blanches à la Bordelaise

2.0

by me

at home

-Dasmariñas Village, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines-

with the Family

To my surprise, our local gourmet deli Santi’s had fresh white asparagus for sale.  Never worked with it, never tasted it, other than the canned/jarred type (see for example 7.063 Espárragos Blancos).   Hate to admit, I was impressed by the exorbitant price of 600 pesos for 4 spears – “Must be good if it’s so expensive!!”

Back home, a review of all my cookbooks and an internet search confirmed a global/historical consensus that white asparagus is relatively flavorless, difficult to cook, and overpriced compared to the standard green stuff.

Not sure if the trouble of making a Hollandaise sauce would be worth the effort, as many sources suggested, I applied the surefire Bordelaise recipe from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which was designed for mushrooms but works with any vegetable (see for example 11.080 Cauliflower à la Bordelaise).  A prior application to green asparagus noted that the breadcrumbs didn’t stick (see 6.245 Tomahawk Pork Chops with Asperges à la Bordelaise), similar problem here with white asparagus (asperges blanche).  Ultimately, it turned out okay.

(See also FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)