Cosmo Cooking

A friend of mine used to work for the German Chamber of Commerce somewhere in the world, far away from home. In spring, he was charged to organise the chamber’s annual asparagus dinner, which included the direct import of white asparagus from Germany. Unbelievable? No, because Germans are simply crazy about asparagus!

Well, even I cannot elude the phenomenon either. Even after having spent years abroad, which has marked me in so many ways, I realise every spring how damn much I am still German. The sight of white asparagus just makes my heart jump. Who would have guessed that?

Maybe my love for asparagus is also my (vegetarian) way of striking a truce with the German cuisine, which usually is very heavy on meat. Because when it comes to asparagus, I help myself just like my fellow citizens. So here it comes, the classic recipe with sauce hollandaise.

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp water (or white wine)
• 2 egg yolks
• 4 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 100 gr liquid butter
• some salt and cayenne pepper

It is very important to carefully peel the asparagus. Usually it is then bound together and cooked in boiling water with a pinch of salt, sugar and some butter for about 15 to 20 minutes, according to the thickness of the asparagus. A different method consists of placing some asparagus in aluminium foil and to let it cook in its own juice in the oven (180 °C) for about 30 minutes. Just add little butter and sugar, but watch out that the sugar doesn’t caramelize and the asparagus sticks to the foil.

To make the sauce you will need some experience. Mix the water with the egg yolks, the orange juice and the lemon juice and heat it up carefully in a double boiler. Stirr constantly with a wire whisk until the sauce becomes creamy. Be careful that the egg does not coagulate! If it does, a few drops of ice cold water might do the trick (keep mixing), but better safe than sorry! Flavor with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.