Twitter
Facebook
Soon, spargel season will inundate the area with Germans flooding to their favorite restaurants daily for their fill of the delicacy in almost ritualistic ecstasy!
No American will be harmed in the rush! Instead, Americans can join in the flurry and become converts to one of the most delicious eating opportunities of their lives. spargel season lasts from the first week in April until June 24, which coincides with the feast of John the Baptist.
However, the high point of the season comes around May 20 with most of the tender spargel sprouts gone by June 6. After that date, the sprouts become too large or they begin to turn purple, which indicates a bitter taste.
Spargel is white asparagus, but must never be mistaken for the green stuff children hate. No one need force a person to eat white asparagus.
Instead, once a person tries spargel in any of its many manifestations, they often become enthusiastic fans.
For Americans who make disparaging remarks such as “No way, man, I ain’t eatin’ that stuff!” or “I always hated asparagus as a kid!” the doubts disappear with one
spargel dinner.
Not a side dish vegetable like its green cousin, spargel serves as the main entree. Typically, a pound of spargel covers the middle of a special plate with melted butter while boiled potatoes and sliced ham provide side dishes. Hollandaise or bearnaise sauce lathered over the spargel fulfills a gourmet’s dreams.
However, restaurants offer spargel in many variations, with chefs constantly inventing delicious variations that entice Germans back day after day.
For example, Pfeffrmühle, one of the favorite eateries of medical professionals at the Landstuhl hospital, offers its signature Flammkuchen specialty garnished with spargel and ham, or spargel spears with hollandaise/bearnaise sauce, spargel soup, and spargel omelets. A particularly tasty dish is toast stacked with ham and spargel then cheese and the whole concoction heated into a perfect lunch.
During spargel season, the average German enjoys the delicious white asparagus in one form or another at least once every day.
They buy it from roadside vendors such as the small farmer with the strawberry booth across the road from Kaufland and Toom in Landstuhl.
Schwetzingen near Heidelberg calls itself the “spargel capital of the world” and holds an annual Spargelfest that attracts guests from around the globe.
“The main difference between green asparagus and spargel is the way it is grown, which makes for the different color,” said Johanna Scherer, co-owner of Pfeffermühle.
“The workers completely cover the plant with dirt, which protects the shoot from sunlight so it never turns green, but it remains tender,” she said.
The sandy soil along autobahn A6 east of Kaiserslautern provides perfect conditions for growing spargel, which explains the white and aluminum blankets that cover the fields around Grunstadt and towns to the south during March, April and May. One restuarant that prepares spargel perfectly is zum Burg Graf von Leiningen in the wine village of Neu Leiningen.
On their patio overlooking the Romantic Wine Road on a sunshiny day, a visiting American can see all the way to Mannheim or Speyer while enjoying an offering of
spargel in melted butter accompanied by the local Ruttger winery’s fine Riesling.
Now, that’s life in Europe at its best!
