List Item: Try as many of the 1001 Foods You Must Try Before You Die as possible
Food items: Bassano White Asparagus
Progress: 782/1001
Yesterday, I wrote about the green asparagus from Provence that I got for the food list. Today, I will be writing about the white asparagus I bought that originates from the northern Italian city of Bassano del Grappa. It was this asparagus that first led me to the Andreas website and, I guess, directly caused an £80 asparagus bill.
This white asparagus was half the price of the green and, again, whilst this might be a lot to spend on these thick white grass spears – it is still cheaper than a round trip to the Vicenza region in order to take part in the asparagus festivities. Although, to be honest, that would have probably been a whole lot of fun.
When it came to eating the Bassano asparagus, I saw that tradition dictates that I boil/steam it and served it with a sauce very similar to Hollandaise. So, since I was making this at the same time as the tart and paste for the green asparagus, I just got some nice jarred Hollandaise from Tesco in order to spare me some trouble. As you might notice from the height of my pan, there was trouble enough trying to cook these properly… but it was nothing that a makeshift cloche made from a metal mixing bowl couldn’t solve.
Now, I cannot quite believe just how succulent these chubby asparagus spears were. After being peeled and lightly dipped in some sauce, the flavour appeared to reveal itself in stages and dance across the tongue. It was really weird and not something I’ve ever really experienced with a vegetable, let alone with asparagus.
As with the Vaucluse Green Asparagus, I’m not entirely convinced that the £20 price tag for a 1.3 kilo of this Bassano Asparagus is completely justifiable (oh how the other half live), but I definitely think I got a unique experience from eating it that I won’t soon forget.
Before I Kick 