11.117
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.