The Horticultural History of the Super Sparrow-Grass

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n The great French writer, philosopher and gourmandnBernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle and the Abbé Jean Terrasson were close friendsnbut they differed on one account; Fontenelle insisted that his asparagus benserved with an oil dressing whereas Terrasson preferred his served with butter.nOne day, the Abbé called on his friend, who had just received a large basket ofnhis favourite vegetable and, in deference to his guest’s tastes, Fontenelleninstructed his cook to divide the basket into two halves and prepare one halfnwith oil and the other with butter.

Bernard de Fontenelle

nThe friends sat down to chat until it wasntime for supper and, after about half an hour, as the Abbé was passing anpleasantry, he fell into a fit and died. With admirable presence of mind, andnbefore calling for a physician, Fontenelle dashed to his kitchen door andnshouted to his cook,

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n“Tout à l’huile, maintenant; tout à l’huile”

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n“All withnoil, now; all with oil.”

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Asparagus Bundle

nNow, that said, I must say that I am in concertnwith the good Abbé on this matter. I prefer my asparagus with butter, (a good,nfarmhouse whey-cream butter, if possible), and with a pinch of sea salt flakes and nonmore. There are those, like Fontenelle, who advocate a virgin olive oil, andngood luck to them, and some will opt for a hollandaise sauce, mayonnaise and/orna sprinkling of Parmesan, but I am not amongst them.

Wull, gen’elmen, I dunno wot be the c’rect way o’ servin’ these ‘ere, but I gen’elly eats just the ends of ’em myself!

nAsparagus is one of thosenthings that divides opinion and everyone believes that that their own method isnthe only correct way. Hold each stalk separately between your thumbs andnforefingers, and gently flex it. It will snap at just the right place, dividingnthe fleshy tip from the woody stem. Then steam the tips over boiling, saltednwater for seven minutes, serve on a warm plate with butter and salt. Eat themnwith your fingers. And that’s it. Life is already complicated enough.

Conover’s Asparagus Buncher

nThere arensome who say bind the stalks into bundles and place in boiling water, with thentips above the level of the water. There are some who use strange devices, madenfrom silver or ceramic, to hold the stalks as they cook. Some will tell you tonserve the cooked stalks on a clean linen napkin, so as to soak up any surplusnmoisture. Other will say that the stalks should be served on cold, dry toast,nalso to soak up moisture – and you should no more eat the toast than you wouldneat the napkin.

Too Much of a Good Thing

nThe woodier parts of the stalks can be used to make a soup,nwith chicken stock, fresh herbs and single cream. Never, ever, under anyncircumstances, eat tinned asparagus. You would never wear a pre-tied bow tien(Would you? I hope not), so why would you even consider eating asparagus from antin? You may, on occasion, and only in the company of close friends or bloodnrelatives, serve boiled asparagus tips with fresh petit pois, straightnfrom the pod and cooked with the tips, with two or three fresh mint leavesnadded to the pan.

Asparagus

nJust as cooking and serving preferences differ, so donetymological thoughts. One school says that the word ‘asparagus’ derivesnfrom the Turkish koosh konmaz (what the sparrow [small bird] alights notnon), with links to ‘asfoor – Arabic for ‘bird’. There are othersnwho prefer the Greek, ‘a’ – meaning ‘not’ and ‘sparagos’ –n‘to tear into pieces’ άσφάραγος – referring to a thorny plant thatnresists being handled.

Now don’t, My Good man – Pray don’t! – I know what you are going to say. You are going to say, ‘Ya! – Ha! – Sparrer-Grass.’ Do allow me to persuade you to call it asparagus – and here is a sixpence for you.

nThose favouring the Latin cite sparagus and sparagi,nand in early English texts it occurs as sperage, but over the years anfalse folk etymology grew up that the name derives from ‘sparrow-grass’.nCertainly, in popular usage, sparrow-grass came to be the most widely usednterm, so much so that Walker, in his Pronouncing Dictionary (1791)nstates,

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n“Sparrow-grass is so general that asparagus has an air of stiffnessnand pedantry.”

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nSamuel Pepys, in his Diary, (April 20^thn1667) writes that he

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n‘… brought home with me from Fenchurch Street onenhundred of sparrowgrass, cost 18d.’

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Robert Southey

nIn a letter to Coleridge dated July 23^rdn1801, Robert Southey has,

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n“… sparagrass (it ought to be spelled so) andnartichokes, good with plain butter, and wholesome.”

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nDuring the nineteenthncentury, the correct name grew again in literary and polite usage andnsparrow-grass began to be seen as an illiteracy. In modern French it is asperge;nGerman, spargel; Dutch, aspergie; Spanish, esperrago.

Asparagus Harvesting Knives

nPliny the Elder, in his Natural History (Book XIX), differentiatesnbetween varieties of asparagus, claiming that the finest grew at Ravenna, andnthat three stalks from there weighed one pound; he also says that the roots ofnasparagus can be used to make wine. The Roman method of preparing asparagus wasnto dry it and, when required, to quickly boil the dried shoots in water – thenEmperor Augustus had a favourite saying for when he wanted something donenquickly,

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n“Citius quam asparagi coquentur,”

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n“Do it quicker than you can cooknasparagus.”

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Asparagus

nThe old herbals give asparagus as a remedy for toothache, withnthe first mention of sparagi occurring in an Anglo-Saxon text onnLeechdom dating from about 1000.

Asparagus – said by some to be an aphrodisiac!

nWilliam Turner’s The Names of Herbesn(1548) differentiates between two types of asparagus, a common kind that isngrown in English gardens and a prickly type, which is found in the Italiannmountains. In 1555, Joannes Boemus wrote about the plants grown by the ‘Moors’nof North Africa,

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n“Their haue Cannes like vnto those of India, whiche mayncontein in the compasse of the knot, or iointe, the measure of ij. bushelles.nTher be sene also Sparagi, of no lesse notable bigguenesse.”

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nThe Fardle ofnFacions.

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