Do asparagus taste bland this year?
‘The white gold is probably arriving deliciously early,’ the AD newspaper declared in a big headline this week. Thanks to the lovely weather, we may be able to buy outdoor-grown asparagus as early as March instead of waiting until April. Sounds nice, but what does that do to the taste?
Not much good, if we are to believe organic asparagus grower Cees van Tiggelen. “The faster vegetables are forced to grow, the less time they have to absorb minerals from the soil, so the taste deteriorates. You get the same effect as with those watery greenhouse vegetables.”
Accelerated harvest
The asparagus already in the shops comes from the greenhouse. The asparagus expected in March comes from outdoors, but the growers have given it a helping hand. Some growers speed up the growing process by stretching plastic over the land. This warms the soil earlier. Thanks to the lovely February weather, they have had an extra boost this year and are expected as early as the beginning of March instead of the beginning of April.
Bitter or bland?
According to Erwin Tillemans of Tilla’s farm, it does nothing to the taste. In fact, he says speeding up the harvest actually has a positive effect. “The faster the asparagus grows, the less bitter it is.”
Van Tiggelen—who does not speed anything up, ‘just lets Mother Nature do her thing,’ and expects his first harvest on 11 April—puts it down to a matter of taste. “It just depends on what you prefer: do you want to taste real asparagus or those white sticks you find wrapped in plastic at the supermarket?”
Just be patient a little longer
Anja Rombouts, hostess at restaurant De Waard in Heesch—which was named asparagus restaurant of the year in 2017—would also rather wait a little longer than serve asparagus next week. “We’re not going to do that. If they grow too quickly, they have a bland taste. The longer they have been in the open soil, the tastier they are.”
According to Rombouts, the early harvest will probably not be such a big deal after all. “Yes, there have been some lovely days, but a few cold days can slow things down again just like that. Besides, the nighttime temperature is still too cold anyway. As long as it is below five degrees, it has no effect at all, the Brabant Asparagus Association told me. In any case, we are waiting until the beginning of April.”
Conclusion
Long story short: full asparagus flavor? Be patient a little longer. Fine with a somewhat subtler flavor? March is your month. Need a recipe already? These asparagus with hot-smoked salmon are irresistible.
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