A to Z: Asparagus with a Zing Recipe

Reader Contribution by Chuck Mallory
Published on June 23, 2010
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When I was a child in northern Missouri, our primary garden vegetables were tomatoes, corn, and green beans. My parents said those were the main garden vegetables when they were kids, too. So even though we had delicious homegrown and (though we didn’t know it) organic vegetables, I never actually ate asparagus until I was in college. And it was love at first sight.

Imagine a few years later when a friend who grew up in rural Kansas said they often found wild asparagus by the side of the road and picked it for that night’s dinner. That would be like finding gold, I thought. I think it might have also grown wild in northern Missouri, and I just didn’t know what it was.

The first time I ate asparagus, the family who served it said they always steamed it and served it lathered with mayo. Later I discovered it’s good just about any way. Maybe that’s why it appears in the oldest collection of recipes known to exist, the De re coquinaria, Book 3, by Apicius in the third century.

Asparagus is even a magical word. Spell it backwards and you get a food ingredient I like and a type of music I don’t like.

Not able to leave a good thing alone, I decided to experiment with asparagus. And here’s a great, simple recipe that brings out the best of this early-summer vegetable while making it fit for a king.

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