Yes, many people don't like it very soft, but like vegetables: with an edge. And roasted green Spargel is delicious anyway. When I was a child I called soft Spargel: corpse fingers, ha, ha.
@@hamuandxerxl4255 Ha, ha, I like the discussion. This you tube video is a possibility for all peoples who never liked soft Spargel to stand up and to make a stand. It is like a comming out 😀 😉 .
@@veraroyen4986 Over here, in northern germany, we call crunchy spargel "holzig" .. literraly "woody"... And yes you need to like it ..... most of the ppl i know (over here in northern germany) don't like it.. But you actually have to differentiate betwen "woody" white asparagus and al dente green asparagus i gues... They're completely different things in your mouth actually...;)
@@hackbyte We are talking about complete difference things. Crunchy (= knusprig) gets Spargel after you fry it in a pan with olive oil and sugar. I talk about a preparation method. It has nothing to do with "woody" parts. These are parts of the Spargel you cut away, you don't use them from the very beginning.
Well done! I live in Austria and we also celebrate the "Spargelzeit" in the same manner. (You could have cooked the spargel a bit longer - it shouldn't be crunchy) It's a very short season and you'll miss it when it's over and next spring you'll look forward to its return.
What a nice video 💖 To cook Sparkel al dente is fairly new, I reckon. When i was younger, it was generally served rather soft. Its flavor is much more intense when cooked for 15-20 minutes, but of course that’s totally a matter of individual preferences. My mom added salt, a pinch of sugar, lemon juice and a dollop of butter to the water for the Spargel.
Yes, when I was young, I never liked Spargel just because of this reason: to soft. In can't understand anyway why it is cooked like this, because you also don't cook vegetables until everything is soft and all vitamins are gone. To many Germans are crazy making such a hype about Spargel, inclusive my father and my husband. Strawberry season and pumpkin season are much more important, ha, ha.
Exactly, the sugar takes the bitterness, the lemon gives the sourness needed, the salt for the taste and the butter for the glance. Everything else is a crime.
Peel the asparagus from the top (about 2 cm down) to the bottom, you will easily get the feel for what is woody. Cut off the bottom dry parts. As you pointed out, you can still use all the cut-off bits for soup. As for the Hollandaise: of course, there is something to be said for tradition, but if you are in a hurry, just put your egg yolks in a narrow vessel, add spices and vinegar/wine to taste, pour in the melted butter and move the magic wand, your blender, up and down three times: done!
i don't cook, but my mother and grandmother did. and yet it really physically hurt me when it was cut from bottom to top :-( where you start peeling, a bit is left over, or it is extra work to peel to that end too. but since the heads usually are soft, you will want them to NOT be cut away or peeled, except on very thick or dry pieces. thus it is easiest to start peeling shortly under the head and then easily can go to the bottom end in one "swoop". when done peeling, cut away the harder dry bottom end. but peeling is an art, and when not done perfectly, you either have peeled too much and wasted asparagus and money, or you have not peeled all the harder part away and people will tell you and fill the rim of the plate with those parts. i personally would love asparagus, but got badly peeled (or lower quality) several times and now feel those "ropes" already when i see it from afar. thus i only (at most) eat asparagus soup with only the heads that usually don't need to be peeled and thus can't be peeled badly. but even without asparagus, i enjoyed potatoes with that sauce, cooked ham or schnitzel, and some scrambled eggs, while letting my family have all the asparagus for themselves.
@@karinland8533 No. But instead of a Hollandaise, we like to eat Spargel simply salted and with a nice amount of .... parmesan cheese. Freshly grated parmesan. Give it a try, its really good! And much easier than a Hollandaise - most people buy artificial Hollandaise instead, but a selfmade Hollandaise is really difficult to make. Grated Parmesan is much easier, but it tastes great! I personally only need some fresh potatoes and butter - nothing else. No ham, nothing, Spargel und Kartoffel. Hmmm....
A tip for peeling asparagus: I find that it is much easier and quicker to peel potatoes, carrots, asparagus etc with a peeler of a different shape. The one you‘re using is sort of shaped like a letter P, with the bow of the letter representing the blade. Try one that‘s shaped like a very long letter D, with the blade in the straight line of the letter and the bow being the handle. You can peel much quicker with such a peeler, because the force is applied directly onto the vegetable and not at a 90 degree angle as with the P-shaped one.
Just peel it once until the dry layer is off (leave the head alone, that's the best part). I love the white asparagus with Pfannkuchen and a slice of ham folded into it and melted butter on top. Hollandaise is good but the butter brings out the taste of the asparagus in my opinion. Oh, and back in the day I've learned that the asparagus is done cooking when you can put a skewer in and drag it through to the end easily.
Why Prosciuto? That's not German at all. You need "Katenschinken"!!, A dark roasted Schinken. Try next time "festkochenden" Kartoffeln. Yours looked like "mehlig kochenden" Kartoffeln. That'll improve your Spargel experience for the next Time :-)
Problem is that Katenschinken is almost not available in Southern Germany and thus the product is generally unknown. As a “Northener” living in Bavaria for quite a long time I yearly receive my care package with “Holsteinischer Katenschinken” (4-5 mm per slice, garnished with black pepper) for my Spargel and fresh German potatoes and I am in heaven 😋. No Hollandaise nor Bearnaise for me, just cooking the peels of the Spargel and make a wonderful sauce of it (lotta less calories). I am starving now …. 😎😋😋
I think the hype about asparagus is because of it's short season and because it's one of the first really fresh harvested Vegetables here in Germany, besides spinach, spring onions and Kohlrabi. Asparagus can also be used quite versatile in the kitchen. It's delightful with sauce hollandaise, yummy in a Spargelcremesuppe, savory in a Spargel Quiche, delicious when cooked and served cold as Schinken-Spargelröllchen for Abendbrot, you can fry it, put it in egg or chicken salad.... Hach, all diese köstlichen Möglichkeiten.😍 If you liked asparagus than you should also try Kohlrabi, but only when it can be bought regionally, the imported stuff is kind of nasty. The next upcoming season is strawberry. My personal highlight of the year.
I started this wonderful morning with your video. So nice! I love the Spargelzeit. (Remember: z is pronounced like ts) I usually cook it much longer, 10 - 12 minutes. It is peeled enough when the skin is no more shining. Baked in alu foil in the oven it's even tastier. I also like to fry it in a pan in butter, than add honey and balsamico vinegar and put sesame seeds on it. Or I gratinate it in the oven after cooking, with herbs, mustard, orange juice and parmesan cheese. I very much like the colorful dress you were wearing! Btw, I would very much appreciate if you read the messages I sent to you via Instagram and also watched some of my pictures there. We both seem to love the nature in spring! Have a nice Sunday.
When I was a kid, we used to grow a lot of vegetables by ourselves in our garden, because it was cheaper and tasted better - and also, we didn't have such a variety to chose from compared to nowadays. And of course we also grew Spargel ourselves, because this was exceptionally expensive to buy. I remember that it was quite a lot of work to keep the Spargel bed in a good condition, free of stones and weeds, hilling it up in the early spring, covering it to keep it warm, and harvesting the Spargel with a special knife that looks more like a chisel with a bent tip. Even the harvest was something that had to be done with exceptional care and experience, to get the max out of the bed: Finding the buds of the Spargelstangen just when they were about to push through the soil, carefully digging down, cutting them at the right length, covering the dug out holes and flattening the top so it could be seen when the next one was about to break through. As a kid I had the advantage that I would not have to bend down so much. Nowadays this would be really painful with time. And then there was the preparation and cooking of the Spargel. Maybe an interesting side note: To know whether the Spargel is still fresh or already a few days old: Rub two stalks together and listen. If you hear them scream, they're still "alive", or fresh. (It almost sounds like rubbing two PET water bottles together.) Peeling Spargel is an art. And according to my mother and to my own experience, there are two ways to do it. Either with a sharp little "vegetable knife" (Gemüsemesser, small kitchen knife with a sharp, straight blade) for the experts, or with a vegetable peeler. But preferably not the one normally used for potatoes (the one you have), but another one with a perpendicular blade and a much finer cut. We also called those "Spargelschäler", because they were exceptionally useful for that purpose. So, to peel Spargel, you may soak the stalks for 10 minutes in cold pure water first. That should make it easier to find the ligneous parts, because those would still feel slightly rough compared to the good part underneath (which is rather slippery when wet). Then the first thing to do is cut 1 - 2 cm of the bottom part (which is usually a bit cracked and dry and may have a little dirt left in the cracks). Don't break the Spargel, there is no predetermined breaking point in a stalk of white Spargel. Next you can either use the sharp Gemüsemesser and try to _grab_ _the_ _peel_ _from_ _the_ _bottom_ part between the blade and your thumb, and then just pull it off towards the top. This requires some experience, so you can tell if you grabbed too much, or not enough. I don't recommend that for beginners, also due to the risk of cutting your thumb. But if you know how to do it, you may be able to peel just the right amount without wasting the precious Spargel. However, it's much easier to use a Spargelschäler and _go_ _from_ _top_ _down_ , starting approximately two fingers wide unter the bud. Further up it's soft and has the most taste, so you won't waste that part. It's helpful to do this in a well illuminated spot, so you can see the faintly yellow tint of the peel compared to the white part underneath. You may also notice that the peel hast a slightly rougher surface structure compared to the tasty part. But it will be more complicated on thinner stalks. In this case the best way to do it is just by peeling off ~ 2 - 3 mm from the outside, also at the risk of wasting good parts of your Spargel. Don't be too frugal, it will not pay when you can't chew it. Just expect to peel off a good part, maybe 10% from the thicker stalks, and even more from the thinner ones, as the peel will have the same thickness on both kinds. When cooking the Spargel, I hear a lot of people having theirs' just "al dente". That's maybe caused by some kind of modern cooking. But to my experience, you will get the most taste out of it when it is soft and sappy. Spargel is not Spaghetti. No need to have it "al dente". I also hear a lot of people having Hollandaise, smoked ham, or even Bratwurst with their Spargel. I think that's a waste, because the delicate taste of the Spargel will be completely choked by that. In my opinion, Spargel goes best with steamed potatoes, brown butter, and a mildly cured piece of boiled (or better: steam boiled) "Schweinenacken" (in Frankonia mostly called Kaiserfleisch, Geselchtes in the southern part of Bavaria, and in other places you may find it as Kasseler - and it may be a different part of pork). A Wiener Schnitzel (Kalbsschnitzel) may also go well, or even a Kalbsbraten (roast veal). Poultry, beef, and fish - not so much. For the drinks it's up to everybody's own taste. Some like wine, others prefer beer, or something different. It just shouldn't be something with a strong or bitter flavour, doesn't go so well with Spargel. And then prepare for the hours or the day after you had Spargel. The speciality of that vegetable is a unique aroma when the beverage is leaving you again. Ok, that was a long comment... sorry :D
@@jeanjacques9980 Thanks! Second language indeed. Some specific terms and names (e.g. of tools) are hard to translate, even with a dictionary. I'm much more familiar with scientific terms :D
I hate the peeling part! That's why I always try to get my Spargel at a shop with a peeling machine. I also use to look for the thin Spargel, as I get far more Köpfe out of a kilogram (these are the best parts) AND the thin Spargel is usually far cheaper to get too. Just make sure to get the peel from the machine too, for a soup. Oftenly, you can get a full bag of peel left in the machine for free, as most of the people just leave it at the shop. Wash it and put it first into the boiling pot. Then add the Spargel Stangen on top (the peel will add aroma to the Spargel). Remove the Spargel Stangen when ready, just like normal. After the meal, remove the peel from the pot too and use the essence as a base for the soup.
We love Spargel too. But I don‘t peel the potatos. Wir lieben Pellkartoffeln. Frühkartoffeln, die man extra zum Spargel kaufen kann. Everybody is peeling it for it self. Right on the table with special silverware. It‘s fun and our tradition. 😉 For us 7 minutes are not enough. I cook it about 15 to 20 minutes.
We use "Drillinge" in Eastwestfalia, very small Frühkartoffeln with a really thin skin. We poke them and boil them in heavy salted water, this way they get a nice flavor and are almost like "patatas arrugadas". They are also very good for potato wedges.
I love it when my family eats Spargel ^^ But actually whenever we eat Spargel, I only eat the potatos the Prosciutto and the sauce (I love Hollandaise sauce) XD My mom always keeps the "Spargel Sud" (the water in which the Spargel boils) to make Spargel Creme Suppe, which is really tasty :) Funny thing is my grandpa used to like drinking the Spargel Sud and my older sister also likes drinking it :'D
I really can't wait to see all the videos you'll do this following year as you've moved to germany while lockdown where literaly nothing happend here as we were used to. now that almost everything is back to "normal" you'll see how wonderful this country really is! 🥰 btw. I absolutly love white Asparagus with sauce hollandais and potatoes and schnitzel 🤤 aaand! .. dein deutsch wird immer besser! Creme wird genauso wie im französischen ausgesprochen. 😀
White asparagus was something my father was in charge of. He came from northern Germany and had lost all his family in WW2. Only when he did the asparagus "ceremony" he would share some stories about his family. So my father would go to our local grocery store and ask them to bring a certain amount of asparagus for us the next day from the market (which made it already special, as it was brought "especially for us". Then he would get the asparagus and wrap them in a watered kitchen towel and put it in the fridge, so that it won't dry out if not eaten immediately. He also taught me to always look at the end of the asparagus if it's still moist or already dry, and he suggested to not buy the dried out ones. The peeling was another ceremony. As this asparagus was really fresh, it broke easily. So he grabbed the head and placed the asparagus on his lower arm. He would peel from head to end with the asparagus being supported by his arm. He also taught me to cut more of the end than you would think, as you don't want it to be "holzig" (= woody, strange expression for hard and not tasty). I'm still not sure what's wrong with broken asparagus, it still tastes the same, but for him it was important. We always ate asparagus with potatoes, scrambled eggs and a lot of butter. No Hollandaise ever, no meat or bacon involved. I cook it in saltwater with lemon juice, and longer than it is usually adviced. I like it soft, so that it almost melts on your tongue and all the taste explodes in your mouth. I stopped eating asparagus in restaurants, as they are so hard you hardly taste anything. And each time I think of my father and his family :) Thank you for this video, I really enjoyed it!
this is a perfect discription of the preparation and celebration of white aspargus, my grandmother does it the same way, now years later where I am cooking myself, I celebrate it just like that and now love it, as I was younger, I dont like it and dont understod the "Brimborium" all around
after living away for germany and beiing a german Koch and love my asparagus I miss the season fro 20th of april and i remeber my days as a young boy working with my uncle and goin spargel stechen so miss spargel with Holsteiner schinken (yes I am from the north of germany) served with Pell kartoffeln need some now best german food ever
Oh no, crunchy Spargel is a crime for me. In good restaurants they cook Spargel at first vertikal in a high pot so that the tips are not in the boiling water. After some time of cooking the big stems the tender tips will be cooked too. At last the Spargel has to be soft in all parts, no crunch but also not overdone.
Oh, and I forgot: Congratulations for mastering your courses so well! And another add: I don't cook Spargel al dente, but nicely softer. And I don't think, you overcooked the potatoes, you just had a sort which is probably "mehlig" or "partly hard, partly mehlig", I would chose a sort, which is " fest kochend" for this dish. "Mehlig" is wonderful for "Kartoffelbrei". But doean't really matter, they are all tasty. And your table looked lovely. Well done
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife WMF is good, you can get also Sparschäler by Victorinox (the Swiss knife company). I got one by random and it is really sharp. There are also Sparschäler with ceramic blades that are very sharp.
Such a nice try to cook asparagus. Like many others said the asparagus was undercooked. It should not be crunchy anymore but soft and tender. I love it whith scrumbled eggs. For one serving I eat at least 8 Spargelstangen. 😉
White spargel is special because it is a very seasonal vegetable! So that's why people advertise when they are available. And everybody eats it as they are always the special on every restaurants menu! In Flanders and The netherlands we also grow aspergus and actually we consider them best. ;-) Actually we usually consider the best quality the ones that are about a finger thick. Maximum 2 cm diameter. Many eat them with hollandaise sauce and ham. But there is also excellent "A la Flamande" Which is a buttery sauce with egg mimosa (crumbly egg) and parsley. I love them with the grey small (North sea) fresh peeled shrimps! It is divine! (Does it show I am a foodie and chef of the house ;-) ) Sara you did well! I might have cooked the aspergus a bit longer as they should resist the bite a bit but should not crisp when bitten. (maybe it was the microphone :) ) Your hollandaise sauce looks the business!! Very professional .. would love to taste that! Actually potatoes come in two culinary varieties: Solid cooking and flowery (like "bintjes" which is the favorite kind for making Flamish fries - or "French" fries like the Americans call them :-p ) Some people prefer the flowery kind and some the solid cooking kinds. The solid cooking kinds are delicious with some real butter and fresh chives or sauteed in hot fat with rosemary and thyme.
I want to share my favorite Spargel recipe, which your kids will love too. Make a pancake, when frying the first side, put cooked ham on the top side in the still „liquid“ dough. Then turn it around and fry the other side. Now roll a few cooked Spargel (as you prepared them) in the pancake. It is soooo delicious. Don’t make the pancake too thick, more the German style. 😋 Guten Appetit!
I love Spargel. The stands that have personnel in them also sell it already peeled. In my city - I’m living in a dedicated Spargel region - they add 50 cents per 500 gr for peeling. Saves a lot of time and work. 😉
Specialty!!! Hahahhaha That was great. Seriously: the less you care about others or comments the better your videos are. And Spargel, yes, coming year you'll wait for Spargel season too. ;) And thank you for all the help for the ukrainian refugees. You've learned a lot about germany. Perhaps you're already germans and didn't mention it? All the best, eine schöne Zeit für Euch, geniesst das Frühjahr!!
Guten Appetit! Das Ende von Spargel (1 cm) wird mit dem Messer abgeschnitten. Empfehlung für schnelleres Schälen: am Kopf anfangen und komplett bis zum Ende schälen - und nicht alleine schälen 😉. Bei uns gab es immer Pellkartoffeln dazu: sie werden mit Schale gekocht und in heißem Zustand gepellt/geschält.
I come from a Spargelregion and there are a lot of „Spargelhöfe“ (Bauernhöfe that sell Spargel) that have machines to peel the Spargel for you. Usually it only costs an extra Euro and the whole work is done for you. You can google if there is one in your area too. When you take home the Spargel, in general, wrap it into a „feuchtes Geschirrtuch“ and put it into that lower box in your fridge right away to keep it fresh 🤓 Spargel with Schinken and potatoes with butter sauce (melted butter) is typical in my family. It’s a northern Schinken though. I hope the amount of comments won’t scare you of. I think you did very well for your first try. Will you try again?
Oh how yummy - German Spargel is the best!!! We can't really get the white asparagus here, just the green one which we aren't too mad about (the only downside is the 'smelly pee' afterwards lol). My sister gave me a tip recently because we also used to cook Spargel in water. She puts the Spargel into a casserole, uses a lid and just put it into the oven for about 40 (?) minutes without any water as the Spargel itself has plenty of water and will cook in it. Only add a bit of butter on top and then it's absolutely perfect. Loved the video.xx
Great job! I love Spargel and miss it here in the US. The white asparagus you get here is usually already dried up and not worth the effort. In Germany we always buy Spargel from local farmers, you want to make sure that it’s really fresh and that the cut ends are not yet dried up. I love to eat Spargel classic with hollandaise, potatoes, and boiled ham. Dry Riesling is the way to go with Spargel. To be honest, I’ve only had sweet Riesling while living abroad, maybe Germany exports only sweet Riesling and keeps the good stuff ;-)
Oh and while boiling asparagus is traditional, I prefer making it in the oven since it doesn’t get watered down. Claudia Poletto has a recipe online. You (or at least I) want the white asparagus to be tender and not al dente. But you seemed to like it, maybe I should give it a try.
Good job! We usually buy our asparagus at the local farmer and they have a peeling machine. We also get to take some off the peel with us. We then boil the peel in the water where we later will be boiling the asparagus in. So hardly anything of the flavour will be lost, and later use the cooking liquid for soup. Another recipe: asparagus with salmon and “beure au citron” Greeting from the Netherlands and we also love asparagus!
Why we are so crazy about Spargel? Because it is (one of) the most regional and seasonal vegetables there is: It's only harvested from mid April to the 24th of June. And it grows in a special soil around Schrobenhausen, Bavaria. Yes, I know, today it is grown elsewhere, too, but Schrobenhausener Spargel is the best and the "real deal". German food is often called bland, but the premise is that everything should taste like itself, spices are only used to enhance the intrinsic taste, like a tiny tiny hint of nutmeg on mashed potatoes for example. - And Spargel is the epitome of "bland" German dishes, isn't it? Everyone can cook with lots of spices and MSG, but bringing the intrinsic tastes of the ingredients to shine, that's the real art of cooking. As soon as you can taste spices in your dish, the cook has done something wrong. (The same is true as well for at least Italian and French cuisine, of course!)
Hi from Vienna, You've got quite a few comments and recommendations already, so much of what I was thinking while watching you cook white asparagus will be a repeat. I learned how to make this dish from my Dutch family about 40 years ago. They would have hard boiled potatoes, 1 to 2 per person, and often times boiled carrots (cut in long strips) in addition to what you served. We use normal boiled ham, but if we have leftovers - rarely- we use prosciutto and eat them cold. I peel the potatoes after I cook them, so much faster, easier. (and use the cooled water for the plants) I think you had "mehlige" potatoes, that's why it looked like they were almost mashed. All the more reason to peel them after cooking. It's best to peel from the tip towards the bottom. Cut off the ends, no snapping... Save peels and ends for making soup, if you want. (
I really felt you when you referred to the peeling. My heart went out to you when you said you were peeling that much Spargel. It’s a labour of love, Sara. It’s delicious, but I rarely have white asparagus at home, because of the peeling… 😂 I once again take my hat off to you, we who know, know the effort you put into this this meal and this video ❤️ 👸 I live right in the THE Spargelland, Schrobenhausen, so I‘ll be adding my twopenny‘s worth soon. (Do you mind if I give you a shoutout?) We don’t have the honour system here on the stands - only for Kürbis and flowers. And I also love getting produce from then! It couldn’t be fresher and more delicious! I love Spargelzeit and when the German strawberries hit the stands, I am in heaven!
Here in Munich the asparagus from farmer's market stands is much cheaper than in the supermarkets - and better too. By the way, traditionally it's not supposed to be al dente, but soft (not mushy of course, but if you put one on a fork it should bend a little). Oh, and it's also typical to serve it with Pellkartoffeln, cooked in the peel. No pepper or spices, just salt. And one last tipp: you started the peeling too high: the upper 5cm below the head don't need it. :) About the fascination for it: I have no idea where that comes from. It's seen as the "royal" vegetable here. I remember that I didn't like it as a kid, because of the slightly bitter taste. But you get used to it and now I absolutely love it. You can eat it raw too, tastes really nice.
The asparagus still sounds a bit hard. I think it should have cooked a few more minutes. A tip: add some vegetable broth to the water used to cook the asparagus.
I don't like al dente spargel, I think it only works for green? I wouldn't roast you for using store bought hollandaise sauce. I buy it as well. And I hate peeling potatoas so I just make "pellkartoffeln" - I cook the potatoes as they are and peel them after cooking :)
Okay, for the hollandaise, read this: first, you have to reduce the wine with a shallot wacholderbeere and Lorbeerblatt to half/ a third. than melt the butter, and beat up the yolk with a Stabmixer. Fill in the reduced wine without the shallot and the herbs to the beaten egg yolk start mixing. give the melted butter under mixing to the egg. done. needs 3 Minutes at all. works great tastes classic. no chnace to fuck this up :) love your vids.
We had white asparagus last Sunday to celebrate Mother's Day, so happy belated Mother's Day to you as well ;) As we met with the family and the Ukrainian Mother and child my sister's family is hosting we had 6 adults and 6 children eating 4kg asparagus - yep we do love it. As others have said the asparagus should be softer and the heads theoretically should melt in your mouth. There are regional differences as well as family-intern ones, so you will find offers with just melted butter instead of the sauce for example.
I love white aspargus and eat it at least once a week during the season. I usually wrap it in aluminium foil and put it in the oven. I think it gets more flavor that way. I don't like hollondaise sauce, so I eat the aspargus plain with Schnitzel, no potatoes. Some aspargus sellers have a peeling machine, so you don't have to peel it yourself. Otherwise I can recommend the aspargus peeler from WMF.
Hello first - I don't know if you knew - but the white asparagus is one of the favorite vegetables of the Germans. This is certainly due on the one hand to the variety of preparation methods, on the other hand to the unusual, very intense and yet mild taste. In addition, it is - at least as far as German asparagus is concerned - only available in a limited time window. I myself prefer not the first class, but third or even inferior classes, not because of the price, I have found that the first class asparagus is often woodier, it is thicker, but ... as I said. My favorite of the preparation is an asparagus vegetables in white sauce, accompanied by eggpancakes and of course I boil the asparagus peels and make a very tasty cream soup. Meanwhile, the green asparagus is on the rise, it is easier to process, tastes very good and is often cheaper. And there are also in the supermarkets very good foreign asparagus, for example, from Spain, or Israel, so you can eat almost all year round the fantastic vegetable. Have fun with our culture and keep up the videos, they are very entertaining. Thank you!
The taste of the Spargel depends a lot on the seasoning of the water it's boiled in. A chunk of butter, fairly amount of salt and sugar and it will taste delicious!
Aaaah, please don't "cook" the Spargel in water, just dampen it, upright above the water. Otherwise you get good smelling water only. For a soup you can cook the peelings in water for an hour or two.
Hey there you two. I'm a trained chef here in germany and would like to give you 2 small pieces of advice. First of all i don't know which kind of potatoes exist in the USA but in Germany there are basically 3 different kinds used for different things: 1. mehligkochend (wheaty) which means once they are done cooking they are like already mashed potatoes or potatoe creme soup, 2. vorwiegend festkochend (mostly hard boiling) which are used most often to make potato salad since they are firm enough to cut but little pieces can fall off and blend in with the dressing and there are 3. festkochend (hard boiling) which are used for the potatoes you wanted with your Spargel. there is almost no case in which they start to fall apart when overcooking unless you leave them on the stove cooking for an hour longer than they needed to be on point. And secondly if you'd like a special twist to your own hollondaise try to heat up the wine with some kind of spices first. For example (sorry i dont know the correct english names) Nelken, Lorbeerblatt and Wacholderbeeren. That gives just a hint of a little more flavour to this overall mostly fatty sauce. Kind regards :)
You may want to ask Germans about the difference between Salzkartoffeln (potatoes peeled before cooking) and Pellkartoffeln ( potatoes peeled after cooking).
I just love the taste of Spargel. It does not sit heavy in your stomach and has a really light taste, perfect for spring and early summer. :) Spargel dishes tend to be light and easy in my family to make, and we use a simple Sparschäler too. One careful round around the Spargel stick should be enough too. Never heard about people doing it multible times, other than the Spargel having reeeeally bad quality. Yes to cutting the ends off with a knife, too - it's too tough for anything else :) The most common dish is simply Spargel with Schnitzel, cooked potatoes, warmed up Sauce Hollandaise and some lemon juice for the Schnitzel for us, too. :D Spargelsuppe is also another favourite in my family. For ca 500g Spargel: Cut peeled Spargel into 2-3cm sticks, put into a pot, cover with water, add salt and cook until the Spargel is almost to the consistency you want it to. Then add 1 small package of Sauce Hollandaise (ca 250ml), whisk in 2 to 4 eggs, and heat everything up till the Spargel is done. Add some more salt and chives or parsley if needed or wanted, and e voila. The most delicious soup ever! Even cooled down it's delicious.
My husband says when I try new recipe: Je öfter du es machst desto besser wird es. You became feeling how much you have to peel asparagus, but PLEASE don't never ever peel the top.
We generally don’t eat white asparagus al dente but really well cooked, soft like almost falling apart. But I guess there are variations and preferences. Well done!
last weekend i ate white Spargel in a restaurant. it was very tender or soft and it was not drowned in sauce which i really liked. in the town my mother lived there is a restaurant which makes "Spargel-Cordon-Bleu", so they roll ham and cheese around the spargel and fry it, some may say this is a sacrilege, but i think its very good. Im from Austria and Spargel is a classic seasonal vegetable we eat traditionally in the season. i dont know why but people always like the food of the season like chanterelle mushrooms ("Pfifferlinge" in german, "Eierschwammerl" in Austria) in late summer, pumpkin in autumn, young wine (called "Sturm") in autumn and so on.
I don't really care about Spargel. My parents like it, but for me it's one of the few things that I didn't like as a kid, and still don't like. I would say my parents ususally cook it longer than you did, so was softer and more tender. You definitely couldn't hear a crunch while chewing it. 😉Like you said about your kids, my brother and I only cared about the potatoes and the hollandaise. 😅 PS: Looks like we have a fake Sara account making the rounds... 😐
I really loved this video 😍 and how much effort you put into it! It looks delicious! 😋 You shared so much background information and I learned a lot! Even though I am not a big asparagus person, I love “Spargelsalat mit Erdbeeren” (asparagus salad with strawberries). I also love the green asparagus I can find in the US, because I love the salty taste😊 I can relate to the tiny fridge part!😅 Once you've had an American fridge, you'll never want to go back! PS: I am so sorry to hear that the Ukrainian family still hasn’t found a house. ❤️I keep my fingers crossed!❤️
Where I live north of Frankfurt/Main all our Farmer‘s stands are manned with at least one vendor. And you can find them at almost every corner or at least nearby the local grocery or bakery. It‘s almost funny how you can buy your asparagus inside of our Rewe and just a few feet away on the other side of the street you can get it from our closest asparagus farmer. And if you think only Americans have certain associations when they see white asparagus, you probably should listen to the famous german song „Veronica, der Lenz ist da!“ performed by the Comedian Harmonists. (This is a clip from the movie about them: ruclips.net/video/N5qFOYLDTAc/видео.html) Because you asked: Normally when you use your Sparschäler it‘s enough when you peel it from the top to the bottom one time for each side, like you did with the potatoes. And you have to cut off the bottom ~1 cm. But never peel the head. What I learned from a chef is to lay the asparagus on your forearm and hold the head with your hand. That way you can peel from top to bottom in one pull and the asparagus will not break that easily. I also remember, that my grandmother and my mother often made a soup from what they peeled off from the asparagus. I‘m sure there are some recipes out in the internet for that, too. Also it‘s totally ok to use instant sauce hollandaise or a tetra pack.
Congratulation Sarah! This recipe is really a tough one. To make 2 kg spargel for two families, is quite a task. Our mum would let us children help with the peeling of the potatoes and the spargel in a case like this... Or - sometimes my grandmother was visiting and she took pride in peeling the whole spargel herself. She never used a peeler, like the rest of us. It was only a kitchen knife for her. When she did the peeling, she was very quick, there were no hard bits left and nothing was wasted. It made things way easier for my mum. To do the sauce hollandaise yourself is very "lecker" but - difficult. So I applaud you for doing it yourself. If the pot gets to hot, the egg yolk will get firm and you have scrambled eggs. You did the safe thing and had the pot in the "Wasserbad". If you do not stir the sauce enough or add the butter to quickly to the sauce, butter and eggs separate and the sauce is ruined. - Your sauce looked very, very good! Your spargel sounded a bit crunchy to me, but you both liked it more on the firm side and not cooked to bend... So I guess that is fine. How did your children like it? When I was young I really wanted my spargel soft. But maybe they are different? It is tricky to get it exactly right, because after the 12th minute in the hot water they go from just right to overcooked very quickly... - And you are coming from a green spargel experience - so you would be used to crunchy green spargel. Maybe you will try it out with a bit more cooking time? - The taste of the spargel gets more intense, with longer cooking. You were guessing right: with white spargel the end bits are not broken of, like you would do with green spargel. They are cut of with a kitchen knife - so I do not waste too much of the costly vegetable. The real challange, I admire you for, is to get all this (the potatoes, the spargel and the sauce) ready to point at the same time, while doing Schnitzel for the kids at the same time. Kudos!!! I never got it done without having either burned Schnitzel or overcooked spargel, or separated sauce. My solution to make my life easier: Forget about the sauce - just pour melted butter (Zerl.Butter in meiner Familie - für zerlassene Butter. Jahrelang dachte ich, es gäbe ein Tier, das Zerl heißt und von dessen Milch käme diese besondere flüssige Butter.) over the spargel and potatoes and sprinkel some salt on it. It is equally yummy in my opinion and less stress. In my opinion no meat or Schinken is needed. The spargel itself is treat enough. (But then, I do not cook for children most of the times.) To your question, where to buy the spargel: The local stall is the go to place, like you did. The asparagus there is freshly picked on the day you buy it. The supermarked spargel often is dried out, from lying around for to long. And sometimes it is flown in from egypt or other far away places - this is crazy and I do not wish to support such nonsense that is damaging the environment. So in my opinion spargel is only consumed between April and June. Traditionally I begin the season with "Spargelbruch". This is the cheapest version of white asparagus. It is broken bits of varios sizes. And from this I make "Spargelsuppe". A few weeks into the season, when the prize is dropping. I next turn to "Spargel Klasse 2". And when I want to specially treat myself I get "Klasse 1" the most expensive thick ones. They are easy to peel and even if you peel them thick - you have spargel left. But - what to do if someone (like my dad) loves Spargelsuppe for his birthday and it is in November - out of season? Peel the last Spargel of the season and put it in the freezer. Raw, peeled, frozen spargel can be cooked anytime and is the next best thing to fresh spargel. So dad gets his spargelsuppe out of season. Thank you for this lovely video. I wish you and the ukrainian family luck with the house hunting! My favorite moment of the video was a Kevin moment: "I really like boiled potatoes." Kevin is definitivly turning into a german!
That's a great video! Very well made with the mixture of cooking and talking and also very relaxing to watch. You should do more of those! Now I'm craving Spargel! 😆
I love asparagus, but I only eat it once or twice a year, when it's in season so it remains special. :D I normally cut the heads of the asparagus off before boiling the stalks first because I like my asparagus really soft. If I would let the heads boil as long as the stalks they would turn too mushy to be enjoyable. I also don't eat Schinken with my asparagus, just potatoes and Sauce Hollandaise (the exact same one you showed from Thomy). Spargelzeit is the best.
Hi Sarah. Thank you for your video. It made me hungry while watching it ;). There are special spargel-cooking pots you can buy in which they are cooked standing upright. As for the sauce: There is a saying, "Everything would taste fine with sauce Hollandaise, even table legs" :) btw.: A question that popped up in my mind recently as a cat owner: How is your cat peanut dealing with all the new people in your house. I know cats are sometimes special with changes in their surrounding. Have a nice day 🌻
Damn, I made a huge mistake and should have known better. Never ever watch a video about some delicious meal when you are between breakfast and lunch time and you skipped your breakfast... It was mouthwatering and my stomach instantly announced itself. As I currently don't have asparagus at home I had to change my plans for today and will head to a nearby restaurant for lunch. 🤤
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife No issue and my fault anyway. But I found a nice little restaurant where they served asparagus for lunch on that day. So I wasn't starving for long. 😅
Loved your vid :) But as a spargel lover... it hurts a bit :'D Peel the spargel from above, u can feel and see when its peeled enough. If it looks shiny and the "wooden feel" is gone u are done :) And usually u dont Cook it al dente, it really isnt meant to be crunchy :D Cook it until it is soft, if i remeber correctly it is about 11-12 minutes. My family usually does spargel with potatoes, sauce hollandais and schnitzel :) Spargel really is a national treasure :) I could eat it every day :D
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Jack is right, cooking time 11 - 12 minutes, and Spargel tips you don´t need to peel, they´re soft enough, and is better peeled from the tip to the bottom. Cut the ends with a knife, but only so much as is "hölzern" = woody. I recommend wrapping the spargel into the ham, 2 or 3 stalks per slice gekochten Schinken (cooked ham). Myself I prefer the green variant. Maybe I´m too lazy to peel, and too thrifty not to eat all of the vegetable.
it *is* really big in germany. however, as a bit of a picky eater i only tried asparagus like 2 years ago for the first time. i had really high expectations since it was this hyped up. as a vegan i maybe used it a bit more unconvential in a pasta dish. but while i didn't think it was particularly bad i was a bit disappointed. so when my family asked me what i thought i said that and they were like "hm. yeah. honestly i'm not into aspargus much either. honestly i'm mostly looking forward to it because of the sauce hollondaise". obviously not what the majority thinks here judging by the comments just thought i'd leave it as a kind of anecdote since you also seemed to be enjoying the sauce hollondaise especially here 😅
the classic cooked aspargus with potatoes and super market sauce hollondaise is very blunt and imo not a good recipe. It's not the fault of the aspargus, though.
The Art of making Hollandaise is best learned from a cook. What happened to Your sauce is that the egg did not stay liquid as it should. This happens when You leave it unstired or/and with too much heat. I always make it when everything else is finished, because it needs Your full attention. Stiring it without pausing(!) with the Schneebesen is a MUST while adding the butter. The sauce should be light and fluffy. I make it with lemon juice so it is fresh and fruity. Asparagus should not crack at all when You eat it. This might happen when it’s not peeled enough, or not cooked enough. As thick as your Spargel was, 7 minutes are not enough cooking time. 7 min are okay for very thin Spargel. Spargel should be soft and smooth when you eat it. We usually have neue Kartoffeln with it, which means potatoes from the spring harvest with very thin skin and a nice yellow color. Enjoying Your Experiments and openness to everything! With love Cornelia
I actually use an electric hand mixer 😎 Another great tip: next time, put the lemon in at the beginning with the wine and the egg yolks. The acid is needed to create the emulsion. Hollandaise is basically a mayo with butter instead of oil.
Spargelzeit! - My favorite season in Germany. The first produce of the year that comes direct from the fields and the markets are full of the white (and green!) sprouts †hat can be had for a ridicilously low price. Up here in Sweden we still have a long way to go before we can put this year's greens on the table. Love your YT channel.
I have never seen a Spargel stand on a honor system. That would be too expensive. We have them selling both asparagus and strawberries and some student will sell it. Or some older woman will sell tem peeling some asparagus while she is waiting.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife i think its a new thing. 30y ago did not see that, think it started with the flowers and since many people wanted local farmers products they added that too
AAAHHHHHH, nicht so! 😧Spargel immer von etwas unterm Kopf in Richtung Schnittstelle schälen. Ja, wir "pop it off" auch. 🙂 Danach am besten die Schalen und Endstücke auskochen (Ins Spargelwasser ein Esslöffel Salz, ein Esslöffel Zucker und ein Spritzer Zitronensaft.) und in diesem Wasser danach den Spargel kochen - dann verliert er nicht so viel Geschmack.
I guess it's a speciality, because it's quite seasonal. People love stuff, which is only periodically available. Same goes for those awful Mon Chérie pralinés, they're only available in the fall and winter and people start buying them like crazy. Love Spargel, hate Mon Chérie though.
Nice video I think your are definitely developing you own style of video. I would love to see a video on Germany wines, liquors etc…. Keep going doing great🥰
Oh, I would propose to peel the asparagus from the other side. The head is tender and the most important part. So start at below the head and go to the bottom. The way you do it is to dangerous for the head. Trockener Riesling is okay, you can also try a Grauburgunder (Pino gris).
Den Spargel von oben nach unten schälen und den Kopf aussparen. Ich hätte den Spargel aber bei der Dicke 10 Minuten gekocht.Von dem „Spargelkochwasser“ kann man noch eine Spargelsuppe kochen. Aber für den ersten Versuch nicht schlecht.
Well it being more expensive isn’t the issue - the Sozialamt pays according to the cost of living. They give refugees more money down here. The problem is the lack of housing. Which there are some parts of Germany in the north that do have more available housing than others.
Bei den meisten ist es glaube ich von der Konsitenz genau anders herum: der Spargel sollte eher weicher sein ohne zu verfallen aber nicht mehr im Mund knacken! und Salzkartoffeln lässt man bei den gängigsten Gerichten gerade so weich werden! Sie sollten nach Möglichkeit nicht zerfallen und matschig werden.....
Bei den meisten ist es glaube ich von der Konsitenz genau anders herum: der Spargel sollte eher weicher sein ohne zu verfallen aber nicht mehr im Mund knacken! und Salzkartoffeln lässt man bei den gängigsten Gerichten gerade so weich werden! Sie sollten nach Möglichkeit nicht zerfallen und matschig werden.....
I do like the Spargel better, when well cooked. If they bend almost sloppy, they are good for me. Just make sure, the water does boil just very very slightly. Otherwise, they will taste bitter at the end.
Next time, try to make some baken Semmelbrösel to add on top. You just have to melt some butter in a pan, add a handful of Semmelbrösel and a bit of salt. Then stir and wait for it to become browwn and crispy. Just add on top of the meal Yummy! 😋
I don't really care for asparagus. The bad thing about it is, that we get temporary workers from eastern Europe and pay them a lot less than minimum wage with living conditions that are also less than optimal. They tried to get students to do it but they wouldn't due to the harsh conditions.
...the minimum wage applies also for seasonal workers, who come because it is good money for them compared to what they can earn back at home. And naturally students have trouble to do it, you actually need some skills to be a good helper at harvest.
@@swanpride Fair point. But though they might get minimum wage (the latest I knew was that hey allowed exceptions for seasonal workers), they often have to pay for food and living themselves and still share rooms with many others. We should just treat them the same as we would regional workers.
Here we use early potatoes and do them as "Pellkartoffeln", so we cook them first and then peel them, but if they are really fresh you can also eat them unpeeled. In this region we traditionally eat the aspergus only with "Schinken" and melted butter together with the potatoes.
Looks great, good job! Little tip to squeezing lemons without a squeezer.... Put a fork in the middle of the cut lemon, squeeze and then twist the fork and the lemon half to get all the juice out.
Wow ❣️ well done! Spargel kochen ist nicht einfach! Wenn der Spargel so schön dick ist koche ich ihn etwas länger 10 - 12 Minuten. Die Enden schneide ich immer mit dem Messer damit ich nichts von dem teuren Gemüse verliere 😄
Heya :) enjoy your Spargel as it happed I picked up a kilo for my mom on the farmers market (not a single stand) yesterday she prefers to make a soup form it, so we take the broken bits, so called "Spargelbruch" we actually live in the middle of all teh spargel fields, so we always had it also, no need to specifically use german wine, use whatever wine you like to it
Hollondaise is more widely used, but for me as a kid growing up, brown butter (let butter melt in a pan and then add "Semmelbrösel"or some other breading ingredient) is the way to go. On the water you cooked it in, my mum and grandma drink a cup or two in the evenening after we had Spargel, because its said to help clean out the kidneys.
I always add only a pinch of sugar. I cut the ends of the Spargel off and then peel it from top to bottom. It is also very yummy with butter and parsley. 😊
Seperating the eggs.... You are as gifted as me. 😀 There are also little helper for doing this, like little strainers or jugs with a spout. Or you can use a metal tea strainer
Hi Sarah, Thanks for the great video and your recommendation for Lingoda. I am starting my first German class tomorrow. Do you preview and review the material before and after the class? I realise if I don't review the lesson, I tend to forget it very easily.
When peeling asparagus, make sure to not peel the tip - it's the most flavorable part. You can easliy see of how much of the bottom should be cut off by squeezing it with two fingers. If moisture comes out, only 2-3cm should be cut off. I was a little surprised you cooked it for only 7 minutes (I cook asparagus for 12-15 minutes depending on the thickness). For me, asparagus tastes best with some melted butter and a littlebit of salt. Asparagus is a perfect match for a hearty spring salad as well: Try Asparagus-Ruccola-Strawberry Salad with Balsamico Creme, it's soooooo delicious! Enjoy Spargelzeit :-)
Spargel generally should not have a crunch, it's cooked until pretty soft, but if you like it that way, fair enough. :-)
Yes, many people don't like it very soft, but like vegetables: with an edge. And roasted green Spargel is delicious anyway. When I was a child I called soft Spargel: corpse fingers, ha, ha.
I never had crunchy asparagus in my life, this freaked me out! :D I cook it for 20min (or the green one for 10).
@@hamuandxerxl4255 Ha, ha, I like the discussion. This you tube video is a possibility for all peoples who never liked soft Spargel to stand up and to make a stand. It is like a comming out 😀 😉 .
@@veraroyen4986 Over here, in northern germany, we call crunchy spargel "holzig" .. literraly "woody"...
And yes you need to like it ..... most of the ppl i know (over here in northern germany) don't like it..
But you actually have to differentiate betwen "woody" white asparagus and al dente green asparagus i gues...
They're completely different things in your mouth actually...;)
@@hackbyte We are talking about complete difference things.
Crunchy (= knusprig) gets Spargel after you fry it in a pan with olive oil and sugar. I talk about a preparation method.
It has nothing to do with "woody" parts. These are parts of the Spargel you cut away, you don't use them from the very beginning.
Well done! I live in Austria and we also celebrate the "Spargelzeit" in the same manner. (You could have cooked the spargel a bit longer - it shouldn't be crunchy) It's a very short season and you'll miss it when it's over and next spring you'll look forward to its return.
Also ich mag Spargel am liebsten Al Dente, aber die Mehrheit anscheinend nicht 😅
What a nice video 💖
To cook Sparkel al dente is fairly new, I reckon. When i was younger, it was generally served rather soft. Its flavor is much more intense when cooked for 15-20 minutes, but of course that’s totally a matter of individual preferences.
My mom added salt, a pinch of sugar, lemon juice and a dollop of butter to the water for the Spargel.
Yes, when I was young, I never liked Spargel just because of this reason: to soft. In can't understand anyway why it is cooked like this, because you also don't cook vegetables until everything is soft and all vitamins are gone. To many Germans are crazy making such a hype about Spargel, inclusive my father and my husband. Strawberry season and pumpkin season are much more important, ha, ha.
Exactly, the sugar takes the bitterness, the lemon gives the sourness needed, the salt for the taste and the butter for the glance. Everything else is a crime.
@@MusicLover-uy7pcExactly!!!!❤
Weisser Spargel ist lecker.....jedoch würde ich ihn nicht aldente kochen...😉
Here in the Netherlands we also love the white asparagus, with ham , new potatoes and melted butter. It is a huge favorite in spring.
In Germany we eat it with Sauce Hollandaise, which is one of the most delicious I know. Is it from the Netherlands?
@@linajurgensen4698 no, its origin seems to be in northern france
Always boil Aspargus with a good chunk of lovage. (and again wrapped in ham and eaten with eggs).
@@linajurgensen4698 And what about Spargel with Semmelbrösel und Butter? It's not only with Hollandaise.
@@tigeriussvarne177 kommt auf die region an^^ aber egal wo es spargel gibt, es schmeckt :)
Peel the asparagus from the top (about 2 cm down) to the bottom, you will easily get the feel for what is woody. Cut off the bottom dry parts. As you pointed out, you can still use all the cut-off bits for soup. As for the Hollandaise: of course, there is something to be said for tradition, but if you are in a hurry, just put your egg yolks in a narrow vessel, add spices and vinegar/wine to taste, pour in the melted butter and move the magic wand, your blender, up and down three times: done!
i don't cook, but my mother and grandmother did. and yet it really physically hurt me when it was cut from bottom to top :-(
where you start peeling, a bit is left over, or it is extra work to peel to that end too. but since the heads usually are soft, you will want them to NOT be cut away or peeled, except on very thick or dry pieces. thus it is easiest to start peeling shortly under the head and then easily can go to the bottom end in one "swoop". when done peeling, cut away the harder dry bottom end.
but peeling is an art, and when not done perfectly, you either have peeled too much and wasted asparagus and money, or you have not peeled all the harder part away and people will tell you and fill the rim of the plate with those parts. i personally would love asparagus, but got badly peeled (or lower quality) several times and now feel those "ropes" already when i see it from afar. thus i only (at most) eat asparagus soup with only the heads that usually don't need to be peeled and thus can't be peeled badly.
but even without asparagus, i enjoyed potatoes with that sauce, cooked ham or schnitzel, and some scrambled eggs, while letting my family have all the asparagus for themselves.
Thomas Kaiser wow, thank you ! I've made mayonnaise that way but didn't know you could make hollandaise like that, too . Awesome !
Isn’t there supposed to be cheese in a Hollandaise?
@@karinland8533 No. But instead of a Hollandaise, we like to eat Spargel simply salted and with a nice amount of .... parmesan cheese. Freshly grated parmesan. Give it a try, its really good! And much easier than a Hollandaise - most people buy artificial Hollandaise instead, but a selfmade Hollandaise is really difficult to make. Grated Parmesan is much easier, but it tastes great! I personally only need some fresh potatoes and butter - nothing else. No ham, nothing, Spargel und Kartoffel. Hmmm....
@@karinland8533 no, egg, butter and lemon
A tip for peeling asparagus: I find that it is much easier and quicker to peel potatoes, carrots, asparagus etc with a peeler of a different shape. The one you‘re using is sort of shaped like a letter P, with the bow of the letter representing the blade. Try one that‘s shaped like a very long letter D, with the blade in the straight line of the letter and the bow being the handle. You can peel much quicker with such a peeler, because the force is applied directly onto the vegetable and not at a 90 degree angle as with the P-shaped one.
Just peel it once until the dry layer is off (leave the head alone, that's the best part).
I love the white asparagus with Pfannkuchen and a slice of ham folded into it and melted butter on top. Hollandaise is good but the butter brings out the taste of the asparagus in my opinion.
Oh, and back in the day I've learned that the asparagus is done cooking when you can put a skewer in and drag it through to the end easily.
Why Prosciuto? That's not German at all. You need "Katenschinken"!!, A dark roasted Schinken. Try next time "festkochenden" Kartoffeln. Yours looked like "mehlig kochenden" Kartoffeln. That'll improve your Spargel experience for the next Time :-)
Problem is that Katenschinken is almost not available in Southern Germany and thus the product is generally unknown. As a “Northener” living in Bavaria for quite a long time I yearly receive my care package with “Holsteinischer Katenschinken” (4-5 mm per slice, garnished with black pepper) for my Spargel and fresh German potatoes and I am in heaven 😋. No Hollandaise nor Bearnaise for me, just cooking the peels of the Spargel and make a wonderful sauce of it (lotta less calories). I am starving now …. 😎😋😋
I think the hype about asparagus is because of it's short season and because it's one of the first really fresh harvested Vegetables here in Germany, besides spinach, spring onions and Kohlrabi. Asparagus can also be used quite versatile in the kitchen. It's delightful with sauce hollandaise, yummy in a Spargelcremesuppe, savory in a Spargel Quiche, delicious when cooked and served cold as Schinken-Spargelröllchen for Abendbrot, you can fry it, put it in egg or chicken salad.... Hach, all diese köstlichen Möglichkeiten.😍 If you liked asparagus than you should also try Kohlrabi, but only when it can be bought regionally, the imported stuff is kind of nasty. The next upcoming season is strawberry. My personal highlight of the year.
Cabbage turnip! Means Kohlrabi. I just looked it up. 😊
I started this wonderful morning with your video. So nice! I love the Spargelzeit. (Remember: z is pronounced like ts) I usually cook it much longer, 10 - 12 minutes. It is peeled enough when the skin is no more shining. Baked in alu foil in the oven it's even tastier. I also like to fry it in a pan in butter, than add honey and balsamico vinegar and put sesame seeds on it. Or I gratinate it in the oven after cooking, with herbs, mustard, orange juice and parmesan cheese.
I very much like the colorful dress you were wearing!
Btw, I would very much appreciate if you read the messages I sent to you via Instagram and also watched some of my pictures there. We both seem to love the nature in spring! Have a nice Sunday.
When I was a kid, we used to grow a lot of vegetables by ourselves in our garden, because it was cheaper and tasted better - and also, we didn't have such a variety to chose from compared to nowadays. And of course we also grew Spargel ourselves, because this was exceptionally expensive to buy. I remember that it was quite a lot of work to keep the Spargel bed in a good condition, free of stones and weeds, hilling it up in the early spring, covering it to keep it warm, and harvesting the Spargel with a special knife that looks more like a chisel with a bent tip. Even the harvest was something that had to be done with exceptional care and experience, to get the max out of the bed: Finding the buds of the Spargelstangen just when they were about to push through the soil, carefully digging down, cutting them at the right length, covering the dug out holes and flattening the top so it could be seen when the next one was about to break through. As a kid I had the advantage that I would not have to bend down so much. Nowadays this would be really painful with time.
And then there was the preparation and cooking of the Spargel.
Maybe an interesting side note: To know whether the Spargel is still fresh or already a few days old: Rub two stalks together and listen. If you hear them scream, they're still "alive", or fresh. (It almost sounds like rubbing two PET water bottles together.)
Peeling Spargel is an art. And according to my mother and to my own experience, there are two ways to do it. Either with a sharp little "vegetable knife" (Gemüsemesser, small kitchen knife with a sharp, straight blade) for the experts, or with a vegetable peeler. But preferably not the one normally used for potatoes (the one you have), but another one with a perpendicular blade and a much finer cut. We also called those "Spargelschäler", because they were exceptionally useful for that purpose.
So, to peel Spargel, you may soak the stalks for 10 minutes in cold pure water first. That should make it easier to find the ligneous parts, because those would still feel slightly rough compared to the good part underneath (which is rather slippery when wet). Then the first thing to do is cut 1 - 2 cm of the bottom part (which is usually a bit cracked and dry and may have a little dirt left in the cracks). Don't break the Spargel, there is no predetermined breaking point in a stalk of white Spargel.
Next you can either use the sharp Gemüsemesser and try to _grab_ _the_ _peel_ _from_ _the_ _bottom_ part between the blade and your thumb, and then just pull it off towards the top. This requires some experience, so you can tell if you grabbed too much, or not enough. I don't recommend that for beginners, also due to the risk of cutting your thumb. But if you know how to do it, you may be able to peel just the right amount without wasting the precious Spargel. However, it's much easier to use a Spargelschäler and _go_ _from_ _top_ _down_ , starting approximately two fingers wide unter the bud. Further up it's soft and has the most taste, so you won't waste that part. It's helpful to do this in a well illuminated spot, so you can see the faintly yellow tint of the peel compared to the white part underneath. You may also notice that the peel hast a slightly rougher surface structure compared to the tasty part. But it will be more complicated on thinner stalks. In this case the best way to do it is just by peeling off ~ 2 - 3 mm from the outside, also at the risk of wasting good parts of your Spargel. Don't be too frugal, it will not pay when you can't chew it. Just expect to peel off a good part, maybe 10% from the thicker stalks, and even more from the thinner ones, as the peel will have the same thickness on both kinds.
When cooking the Spargel, I hear a lot of people having theirs' just "al dente". That's maybe caused by some kind of modern cooking. But to my experience, you will get the most taste out of it when it is soft and sappy. Spargel is not Spaghetti. No need to have it "al dente".
I also hear a lot of people having Hollandaise, smoked ham, or even Bratwurst with their Spargel. I think that's a waste, because the delicate taste of the Spargel will be completely choked by that. In my opinion, Spargel goes best with steamed potatoes, brown butter, and a mildly cured piece of boiled (or better: steam boiled) "Schweinenacken" (in Frankonia mostly called Kaiserfleisch, Geselchtes in the southern part of Bavaria, and in other places you may find it as Kasseler - and it may be a different part of pork). A Wiener Schnitzel (Kalbsschnitzel) may also go well, or even a Kalbsbraten (roast veal). Poultry, beef, and fish - not so much. For the drinks it's up to everybody's own taste. Some like wine, others prefer beer, or something different. It just shouldn't be something with a strong or bitter flavour, doesn't go so well with Spargel.
And then prepare for the hours or the day after you had Spargel. The speciality of that vegetable is a unique aroma when the beverage is leaving you again.
Ok, that was a long comment... sorry :D
This comment is loaded with great tips and Spargel insights. Thanks for sharing!
Great explanation, probably in your second or third language. Bravo.
@@jeanjacques9980 Thanks! Second language indeed. Some specific terms and names (e.g. of tools) are hard to translate, even with a dictionary. I'm much more familiar with scientific terms :D
@@human_isomer A+ for hard work and time taken to complete helpful response.
I hate the peeling part!
That's why I always try to get my Spargel at a shop with a peeling machine.
I also use to look for the thin Spargel, as I get far more Köpfe out of a kilogram (these are the best parts) AND the thin Spargel is usually far cheaper to get too.
Just make sure to get the peel from the machine too, for a soup.
Oftenly, you can get a full bag of peel left in the machine for free, as most of the people just leave it at the shop.
Wash it and put it first into the boiling pot. Then add the Spargel Stangen on top (the peel will add aroma to the Spargel). Remove the Spargel Stangen when ready, just like normal.
After the meal, remove the peel from the pot too and use the essence as a base for the soup.
We love Spargel too. But I don‘t peel the potatos. Wir lieben Pellkartoffeln. Frühkartoffeln, die man extra zum Spargel kaufen kann. Everybody is peeling it for it self. Right on the table with special silverware. It‘s fun and our tradition. 😉 For us 7 minutes are not enough. I cook it about 15 to 20 minutes.
Okay great tips! Thank you, Dolores. Next time I won’t peel the potatoes - too hard!
''Pellkartoffeln''
We - in the Aachener region - call 'm Schwellmänncher. Must be cooked without any salt.
We use "Drillinge" in Eastwestfalia, very small Frühkartoffeln with a really thin skin. We poke them and boil them in heavy salted water, this way they get a nice flavor and are almost like "patatas arrugadas". They are also very good for potato wedges.
We stopped peeling Frühkartoffel at all. Give them a good brush and you can eat the whole potato.
I love it when my family eats Spargel ^^
But actually whenever we eat Spargel, I only eat the potatos the Prosciutto and the sauce (I love Hollandaise sauce) XD
My mom always keeps the "Spargel Sud" (the water in which the Spargel boils) to make Spargel Creme Suppe, which is really tasty :)
Funny thing is my grandpa used to like drinking the Spargel Sud and my older sister also likes drinking it :'D
I really can't wait to see all the videos you'll do this following year as you've moved to germany while lockdown where literaly nothing happend here as we were used to. now that almost everything is back to "normal" you'll see how wonderful this country really is! 🥰
btw. I absolutly love white Asparagus with sauce hollandais and potatoes and schnitzel 🤤
aaand! .. dein deutsch wird immer besser! Creme wird genauso wie im französischen ausgesprochen. 😀
Yes!!! No lockdowns, normal life. It’s already been so much better this year! We went to a Maibaumfest and a Frühlingsfest!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife gehackt worden? Wegen der Whattsapp Nummer frage ich
@@arnodobler1096 Nope, I would say that's just a fake account using her profile picture.
@@christianbraun5004 thx
@@arnodobler1096 Hi Arno! Hoffe Du hattest einen schönen Sonntag!
White asparagus was something my father was in charge of. He came from northern Germany and had lost all his family in WW2. Only when he did the asparagus "ceremony" he would share some stories about his family.
So my father would go to our local grocery store and ask them to bring a certain amount of asparagus for us the next day from the market (which made it already special, as it was brought "especially for us". Then he would get the asparagus and wrap them in a watered kitchen towel and put it in the fridge, so that it won't dry out if not eaten immediately. He also taught me to always look at the end of the asparagus if it's still moist or already dry, and he suggested to not buy the dried out ones.
The peeling was another ceremony. As this asparagus was really fresh, it broke easily. So he grabbed the head and placed the asparagus on his lower arm. He would peel from head to end with the asparagus being supported by his arm. He also taught me to cut more of the end than you would think, as you don't want it to be "holzig" (= woody, strange expression for hard and not tasty). I'm still not sure what's wrong with broken asparagus, it still tastes the same, but for him it was important.
We always ate asparagus with potatoes, scrambled eggs and a lot of butter. No Hollandaise ever, no meat or bacon involved. I cook it in saltwater with lemon juice, and longer than it is usually adviced. I like it soft, so that it almost melts on your tongue and all the taste explodes in your mouth. I stopped eating asparagus in restaurants, as they are so hard you hardly taste anything. And each time I think of my father and his family :)
Thank you for this video, I really enjoyed it!
That's a lovely story!
this is a perfect discription of the preparation and celebration of white aspargus, my grandmother does it the same way, now years later where I am cooking myself, I celebrate it just like that and now love it, as I was younger, I dont like it and dont understod the "Brimborium" all around
after living away for germany and beiing a german Koch and love my asparagus
I miss the season fro 20th of april and i remeber my days as a young boy working with my uncle and goin spargel stechen
so miss spargel with Holsteiner schinken (yes I am from the north of germany) served with Pell kartoffeln need some now best german food ever
when Americans evolve a German acccent ... schpeschalties 💚 lovely
Oh no, crunchy Spargel is a crime for me. In good restaurants they cook Spargel at first vertikal in a high pot so that the tips are not in the boiling water. After some time of cooking the big stems the tender tips will be cooked too. At last the Spargel has to be soft in all parts, no crunch but also not overdone.
Oh, and I forgot: Congratulations for mastering your courses so well!
And another add: I don't cook Spargel al dente, but nicely softer. And I don't think, you overcooked the potatoes, you just had a sort which is probably "mehlig" or "partly hard, partly mehlig", I would chose a sort, which is " fest kochend" for this dish. "Mehlig" is wonderful for "Kartoffelbrei".
But doean't really matter, they are all tasty. And your table looked lovely. Well done
For peeling you should get a Sparschäler from WMF … it will work like you cut Butter! Try it!!!
This is so cool - I didn’t these excited until this video published!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife
WMF is good, you can get also Sparschäler by Victorinox (the Swiss knife company).
I got one by random and it is really sharp.
There are also Sparschäler with ceramic blades that are very sharp.
Or just get the ones from your local Ikea 😉
Such a nice try to cook asparagus. Like many others said the asparagus was undercooked. It should not be crunchy anymore but soft and tender. I love it whith scrumbled eggs. For one serving I eat at least 8 Spargelstangen. 😉
White spargel is special because it is a very seasonal vegetable! So that's why people advertise when they are available. And everybody eats it as they are always the special on every restaurants menu! In Flanders and The netherlands we also grow aspergus and actually we consider them best. ;-) Actually we usually consider the best quality the ones that are about a finger thick. Maximum 2 cm diameter. Many eat them with hollandaise sauce and ham. But there is also excellent "A la Flamande" Which is a buttery sauce with egg mimosa (crumbly egg) and parsley. I love them with the grey small (North sea) fresh peeled shrimps! It is divine! (Does it show I am a foodie and chef of the house ;-) )
Sara you did well! I might have cooked the aspergus a bit longer as they should resist the bite a bit but should not crisp when bitten. (maybe it was the microphone :) ) Your hollandaise sauce looks the business!! Very professional .. would love to taste that! Actually potatoes come in two culinary varieties: Solid cooking and flowery (like "bintjes" which is the favorite kind for making Flamish fries - or "French" fries like the Americans call them :-p ) Some people prefer the flowery kind and some the solid cooking kinds. The solid cooking kinds are delicious with some real butter and fresh chives or sauteed in hot fat with rosemary and thyme.
I want to share my favorite Spargel recipe, which your kids will love too.
Make a pancake, when frying the first side, put cooked ham on the top side in the still „liquid“ dough. Then turn it around and fry the other side. Now roll a few cooked Spargel (as you prepared them) in the pancake. It is soooo delicious. Don’t make the pancake too thick, more the German style. 😋 Guten Appetit!
I love Spargel. The stands that have personnel in them also sell it already peeled. In my city - I’m living in a dedicated Spargel region - they add 50 cents per 500 gr for peeling. Saves a lot of time and work. 😉
Love those machines! And you can buy a bag full peels for soup for a penny as many do not take them. Less effort, more Spargel.
Specialty!!! Hahahhaha That was great.
Seriously: the less you care about others or comments the better your videos are.
And Spargel, yes, coming year you'll wait for Spargel season too. ;)
And thank you for all the help for the ukrainian refugees. You've learned a lot about germany. Perhaps you're already germans and didn't mention it?
All the best, eine schöne Zeit für Euch, geniesst das Frühjahr!!
Schpecialty 😂 Maybe we really are already Germans and didn’t know it! 😄
Guten Appetit!
Das Ende von Spargel (1 cm) wird mit dem Messer abgeschnitten.
Empfehlung für schnelleres Schälen: am Kopf anfangen und komplett bis zum Ende schälen - und nicht alleine schälen 😉.
Bei uns gab es immer Pellkartoffeln dazu: sie werden mit Schale gekocht und in heißem Zustand gepellt/geschält.
I always look forward to your videos!! 🥰
🥰🥰 thank you so much for watching!
Der Spargel ist eigentlich auch ein Fruchtbarkeitssymbol im Frühling in Europa !
The asparagus is better just with melted butter. The heavy sauce covers up the fine taste of the asparagus too much.
Agreed.
I come from a Spargelregion and there are a lot of „Spargelhöfe“ (Bauernhöfe that sell Spargel) that have machines to peel the Spargel for you. Usually it only costs an extra Euro and the whole work is done for you. You can google if there is one in your area too.
When you take home the Spargel, in general, wrap it into a „feuchtes Geschirrtuch“ and put it into that lower box in your fridge right away to keep it fresh 🤓
Spargel with Schinken and potatoes with butter sauce (melted butter) is typical in my family. It’s a northern Schinken though.
I hope the amount of comments won’t scare you of. I think you did very well for your first try. Will you try again?
„feuchtes Geschirrtuch“ = wet kitchen towel 😉
Oh how yummy - German Spargel is the best!!! We can't really get the white asparagus here, just the green one which we aren't too mad about (the only downside is the 'smelly pee' afterwards lol). My sister gave me a tip recently because we also used to cook Spargel in water. She puts the Spargel into a casserole, uses a lid and just put it into the oven for about 40 (?) minutes without any water as the Spargel itself has plenty of water and will cook in it. Only add a bit of butter on top and then it's absolutely perfect. Loved the video.xx
Oh cool! What a great tip! Thanks for sharing.
Great job! I love Spargel and miss it here in the US. The white asparagus you get here is usually already dried up and not worth the effort. In Germany we always buy Spargel from local farmers, you want to make sure that it’s really fresh and that the cut ends are not yet dried up. I love to eat Spargel classic with hollandaise, potatoes, and boiled ham. Dry Riesling is the way to go with Spargel. To be honest, I’ve only had sweet Riesling while living abroad, maybe Germany exports only sweet Riesling and keeps the good stuff ;-)
Oh and while boiling asparagus is traditional, I prefer making it in the oven since it doesn’t get watered down. Claudia Poletto has a recipe online. You (or at least I) want the white asparagus to be tender and not al dente. But you seemed to like it, maybe I should give it a try.
Okay good to know you like it in the oven! I can try that next time.
Dry Riesling is the best Riesling there is!
Deutscher Spargel ist super, deutscher Wein, das lass sein.
Good job!
We usually buy our asparagus at the local farmer and they have a peeling machine.
We also get to take some off the peel with us. We then boil the peel in the water where we later will be boiling the asparagus in. So hardly anything of the flavour will be lost, and later use the cooking liquid for soup.
Another recipe: asparagus with salmon and “beure au citron”
Greeting from the Netherlands and we also love asparagus!
Why we are so crazy about Spargel? Because it is (one of) the most regional and seasonal vegetables there is: It's only harvested from mid April to the 24th of June. And it grows in a special soil around Schrobenhausen, Bavaria. Yes, I know, today it is grown elsewhere, too, but Schrobenhausener Spargel is the best and the "real deal". German food is often called bland, but the premise is that everything should taste like itself, spices are only used to enhance the intrinsic taste, like a tiny tiny hint of nutmeg on mashed potatoes for example. - And Spargel is the epitome of "bland" German dishes, isn't it? Everyone can cook with lots of spices and MSG, but bringing the intrinsic tastes of the ingredients to shine, that's the real art of cooking. As soon as you can taste spices in your dish, the cook has done something wrong. (The same is true as well for at least Italian and French cuisine, of course!)
Great explanation! This makes so much sense.
Hi from Vienna,
You've got quite a few comments and recommendations already, so much of what I was thinking while watching you cook white asparagus will be a repeat. I learned how to make this dish from my Dutch family about 40 years ago. They would have hard boiled potatoes, 1 to 2 per person, and often times boiled carrots (cut in long strips) in addition to what you served. We use normal boiled ham, but if we have leftovers - rarely- we use prosciutto and eat them cold.
I peel the potatoes after I cook them, so much faster, easier. (and use the cooled water for the plants) I think you had "mehlige" potatoes, that's why it looked like they were almost mashed. All the more reason to peel them after cooking.
It's best to peel from the tip towards the bottom. Cut off the ends, no snapping... Save peels and ends for making soup, if you want. (
Great to hear how it’s done in Austria! Thanks for sharing.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I meant to write hard boiled eggs, one to two per person.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife But she learned it from the Dutch ;)
Gratulation zu deinem bestanden Deutsch Test. Als weiter so.
Woohooo! Danke! 🏆🏆
I really felt you when you referred to the peeling. My heart went out to you when you said you were peeling that much Spargel. It’s a labour of love, Sara. It’s delicious, but I rarely have white asparagus at home, because of the peeling… 😂 I once again take my hat off to you, we who know, know the effort you put into this this meal and this video ❤️ 👸
I live right in the THE Spargelland, Schrobenhausen, so I‘ll be adding my twopenny‘s worth soon. (Do you mind if I give you a shoutout?) We don’t have the honour system here on the stands - only for Kürbis and flowers. And I also love getting produce from then! It couldn’t be fresher and more delicious! I love Spargelzeit and when the German strawberries hit the stands, I am in heaven!
Lauren 🥰! Erdbeeren und Spargel!
I prefer peeling asparagus to peeling potatoes. Maybe you need a better peeler.
@@maracuja1009 I need a restaurant reservation when it comes to Spargel 😂
@@sisuguillam5109 ich LIEBE diese Zeit!
@@LaureninGermany Ich auch! Schönen Sonntag!
A simple meal........boiled potatoes (peel after cooking) with herb curd...........
It sounds like the asparagus is still raw.
Here in Munich the asparagus from farmer's market stands is much cheaper than in the supermarkets - and better too. By the way, traditionally it's not supposed to be al dente, but soft (not mushy of course, but if you put one on a fork it should bend a little). Oh, and it's also typical to serve it with Pellkartoffeln, cooked in the peel. No pepper or spices, just salt. And one last tipp: you started the peeling too high: the upper 5cm below the head don't need it. :)
About the fascination for it: I have no idea where that comes from. It's seen as the "royal" vegetable here. I remember that I didn't like it as a kid, because of the slightly bitter taste. But you get used to it and now I absolutely love it. You can eat it raw too, tastes really nice.
The asparagus still sounds a bit hard. I think it should have cooked a few more minutes. A tip: add some vegetable broth to the water used to cook the asparagus.
I don't like al dente spargel, I think it only works for green? I wouldn't roast you for using store bought hollandaise sauce. I buy it as well. And I hate peeling potatoas so I just make "pellkartoffeln" - I cook the potatoes as they are and peel them after cooking :)
Okay good to know! I like potatoes with the skin on them, too, so next time I won’t peel them. Thank you for the tips!
Okay, for the hollandaise, read this:
first, you have to reduce the wine with a shallot wacholderbeere and Lorbeerblatt to half/ a third. than melt the butter, and beat up the yolk with a Stabmixer. Fill in the reduced wine without the shallot and the herbs to the beaten egg yolk start mixing. give the melted butter under mixing to the egg. done. needs 3 Minutes at all. works great tastes classic. no chnace to fuck this up :) love your vids.
We had white asparagus last Sunday to celebrate Mother's Day, so happy belated Mother's Day to you as well ;)
As we met with the family and the Ukrainian Mother and child my sister's family is hosting we had 6 adults and 6 children eating 4kg asparagus - yep we do love it. As others have said the asparagus should be softer and the heads theoretically should melt in your mouth. There are regional differences as well as family-intern ones, so you will find offers with just melted butter instead of the sauce for example.
Wow, 4 kg!! You have us beat for sure!
I love white aspargus and eat it at least once a week during the season. I usually wrap it in aluminium foil and put it in the oven. I think it gets more flavor that way. I don't like hollondaise sauce, so I eat the aspargus plain with Schnitzel, no potatoes. Some aspargus sellers have a peeling machine, so you don't have to peel it yourself. Otherwise I can recommend the aspargus peeler from WMF.
It is so wholesome to see the two of you interact with so much love and respect. ❤️☀️
Hello first - I don't know if you knew - but the white asparagus is one of the favorite vegetables of the Germans. This is certainly due on the one hand to the variety of preparation methods, on the other hand to the unusual, very intense and yet mild taste. In addition, it is - at least as far as German asparagus is concerned - only available in a limited time window.
I myself prefer not the first class, but third or even inferior classes, not because of the price, I have found that the first class asparagus is often woodier, it is thicker, but ... as I said.
My favorite of the preparation is an asparagus vegetables in white sauce, accompanied by eggpancakes and of course I boil the asparagus peels and make a very tasty cream soup.
Meanwhile, the green asparagus is on the rise, it is easier to process, tastes very good and is often cheaper. And there are also in the supermarkets very good foreign asparagus, for example, from Spain, or Israel, so you can eat almost all year round the fantastic vegetable.
Have fun with our culture and keep up the videos, they are very entertaining. Thank you!
If you do not want to peel so much, use "Drillinge", small potatoes, you can just cook them with the skin on.(and eat them with skin)
The taste of the Spargel depends a lot on the seasoning of the water it's boiled in. A chunk of butter, fairly amount of salt and sugar and it will taste delicious!
Aaaah, please don't "cook" the Spargel in water, just dampen it, upright above the water. Otherwise you get good smelling water only.
For a soup you can cook the peelings in water for an hour or two.
Hey there you two.
I'm a trained chef here in germany and would like to give you 2 small pieces of advice.
First of all i don't know which kind of potatoes exist in the USA but in Germany there are basically 3 different kinds used for different things: 1. mehligkochend (wheaty) which means once they are done cooking they are like already mashed potatoes or potatoe creme soup, 2. vorwiegend festkochend (mostly hard boiling) which are used most often to make potato salad since they are firm enough to cut but little pieces can fall off and blend in with the dressing and there are 3. festkochend (hard boiling) which are used for the potatoes you wanted with your Spargel. there is almost no case in which they start to fall apart when overcooking unless you leave them on the stove cooking for an hour longer than they needed to be on point.
And secondly if you'd like a special twist to your own hollondaise try to heat up the wine with some kind of spices first. For example (sorry i dont know the correct english names) Nelken, Lorbeerblatt and Wacholderbeeren.
That gives just a hint of a little more flavour to this overall mostly fatty sauce.
Kind regards :)
You may want to ask Germans about the difference between Salzkartoffeln (potatoes peeled before cooking) and Pellkartoffeln ( potatoes peeled after cooking).
I just love the taste of Spargel. It does not sit heavy in your stomach and has a really light taste, perfect for spring and early summer. :) Spargel dishes tend to be light and easy in my family to make, and we use a simple Sparschäler too. One careful round around the Spargel stick should be enough too. Never heard about people doing it multible times, other than the Spargel having reeeeally bad quality. Yes to cutting the ends off with a knife, too - it's too tough for anything else :) The most common dish is simply Spargel with Schnitzel, cooked potatoes, warmed up Sauce Hollandaise and some lemon juice for the Schnitzel for us, too. :D
Spargelsuppe is also another favourite in my family. For ca 500g Spargel: Cut peeled Spargel into 2-3cm sticks, put into a pot, cover with water, add salt and cook until the Spargel is almost to the consistency you want it to. Then add 1 small package of Sauce Hollandaise (ca 250ml), whisk in 2 to 4 eggs, and heat everything up till the Spargel is done. Add some more salt and chives or parsley if needed or wanted, and e voila. The most delicious soup ever! Even cooled down it's delicious.
Du kannst mit ausreichend Praxis, das harte Ende einfach abbrechen. Es bricht genau an der Stelle an dem der Spargel wieder Feuchtigkeit hat.
My husband says when I try new recipe: Je öfter du es machst desto besser wird es. You became feeling how much you have to peel asparagus, but PLEASE don't never ever peel the top.
We generally don’t eat white asparagus al dente but really well cooked, soft like almost falling apart. But I guess there are variations and preferences. Well done!
last weekend i ate white Spargel in a restaurant. it was very tender or soft and it was not drowned in sauce which i really liked. in the town my mother lived there is a restaurant which makes "Spargel-Cordon-Bleu", so they roll ham and cheese around the spargel and fry it, some may say this is a sacrilege, but i think its very good. Im from Austria and Spargel is a classic seasonal vegetable we eat traditionally in the season. i dont know why but people always like the food of the season like chanterelle mushrooms ("Pfifferlinge" in german, "Eierschwammerl" in Austria) in late summer, pumpkin in autumn, young wine (called "Sturm") in autumn and so on.
I don't really care about Spargel. My parents like it, but for me it's one of the few things that I didn't like as a kid, and still don't like. I would say my parents ususally cook it longer than you did, so was softer and more tender. You definitely couldn't hear a crunch while chewing it. 😉Like you said about your kids, my brother and I only cared about the potatoes and the hollandaise. 😅
PS: Looks like we have a fake Sara account making the rounds... 😐
Spargel is not supposed to have a crunch, it should be cooked until it’s very soft!😊
I really loved this video 😍 and how much effort you put into it! It looks delicious! 😋 You shared so much background information and I learned a lot! Even though I am not a big asparagus person, I love “Spargelsalat mit Erdbeeren” (asparagus salad with strawberries). I also love the green asparagus I can find in the US, because I love the salty taste😊 I can relate to the tiny fridge part!😅 Once you've had an American fridge, you'll never want to go back! PS: I am so sorry to hear that the Ukrainian family still hasn’t found a house. ❤️I keep my fingers crossed!❤️
Oh yes you are experiencing the joys of an American Kühlschrank ! We miss our’s, haha.
Its the perfect Phallus symbol and its WHITE. There is your answer
Where I live north of Frankfurt/Main all our Farmer‘s stands are manned with at least one vendor. And you can find them at almost every corner or at least nearby the local grocery or bakery. It‘s almost funny how you can buy your asparagus inside of our Rewe and just a few feet away on the other side of the street you can get it from our closest asparagus farmer.
And if you think only Americans have certain associations when they see white asparagus, you probably should listen to the famous german song „Veronica, der Lenz ist da!“ performed by the Comedian Harmonists. (This is a clip from the movie about them: ruclips.net/video/N5qFOYLDTAc/видео.html)
Because you asked: Normally when you use your Sparschäler it‘s enough when you peel it from the top to the bottom one time for each side, like you did with the potatoes. And you have to cut off the bottom ~1 cm. But never peel the head. What I learned from a chef is to lay the asparagus on your forearm and hold the head with your hand. That way you can peel from top to bottom in one pull and the asparagus will not break that easily. I also remember, that my grandmother and my mother often made a soup from what they peeled off from the asparagus. I‘m sure there are some recipes out in the internet for that, too. Also it‘s totally ok to use instant sauce hollandaise or a tetra pack.
Congratulation Sarah! This recipe is really a tough one. To make 2 kg spargel for two families, is quite a task. Our mum would let us children help with the peeling of the potatoes and the spargel in a case like this... Or - sometimes my grandmother was visiting and she took pride in peeling the whole spargel herself. She never used a peeler, like the rest of us. It was only a kitchen knife for her. When she did the peeling, she was very quick, there were no hard bits left and nothing was wasted. It made things way easier for my mum. To do the sauce hollandaise yourself is very "lecker" but - difficult. So I applaud you for doing it yourself. If the pot gets to hot, the egg yolk will get firm and you have scrambled eggs. You did the safe thing and had the pot in the "Wasserbad". If you do not stir the sauce enough or add the butter to quickly to the sauce, butter and eggs separate and the sauce is ruined. - Your sauce looked very, very good!
Your spargel sounded a bit crunchy to me, but you both liked it more on the firm side and not cooked to bend... So I guess that is fine. How did your children like it? When I was young I really wanted my spargel soft. But maybe they are different? It is tricky to get it exactly right, because after the 12th minute in the hot water they go from just right to overcooked very quickly... - And you are coming from a green spargel experience - so you would be used to crunchy green spargel. Maybe you will try it out with a bit more cooking time? - The taste of the spargel gets more intense, with longer cooking.
You were guessing right: with white spargel the end bits are not broken of, like you would do with green spargel. They are cut of with a kitchen knife - so I do not waste too much of the costly vegetable.
The real challange, I admire you for, is to get all this (the potatoes, the spargel and the sauce) ready to point at the same time, while doing Schnitzel for the kids at the same time. Kudos!!! I never got it done without having either burned Schnitzel or overcooked spargel, or separated sauce.
My solution to make my life easier: Forget about the sauce - just pour melted butter (Zerl.Butter in meiner Familie - für zerlassene Butter. Jahrelang dachte ich, es gäbe ein Tier, das Zerl heißt und von dessen Milch käme diese besondere flüssige Butter.) over the spargel and potatoes and sprinkel some salt on it. It is equally yummy in my opinion and less stress. In my opinion no meat or Schinken is needed. The spargel itself is treat enough. (But then, I do not cook for children most of the times.)
To your question, where to buy the spargel: The local stall is the go to place, like you did. The asparagus there is freshly picked on the day you buy it. The supermarked spargel often is dried out, from lying around for to long. And sometimes it is flown in from egypt or other far away places - this is crazy and I do not wish to support such nonsense that is damaging the environment. So in my opinion spargel is only consumed between April and June. Traditionally I begin the season with "Spargelbruch". This is the cheapest version of white asparagus. It is broken bits of varios sizes. And from this I make "Spargelsuppe". A few weeks into the season, when the prize is dropping. I next turn to "Spargel Klasse 2". And when I want to specially treat myself I get "Klasse 1" the most expensive thick ones. They are easy to peel and even if you peel them thick - you have spargel left.
But - what to do if someone (like my dad) loves Spargelsuppe for his birthday and it is in November - out of season? Peel the last Spargel of the season and put it in the freezer. Raw, peeled, frozen spargel can be cooked anytime and is the next best thing to fresh spargel. So dad gets his spargelsuppe out of season.
Thank you for this lovely video. I wish you and the ukrainian family luck with the house hunting!
My favorite moment of the video was a Kevin moment: "I really like boiled potatoes." Kevin is definitivly turning into a german!
Butter vom Zerl 😂😆 ich liebe es!
Next time try rhubarb as an old fashioned (Oma) cake with baiser on the top. :)
im no winedrinker cause its to intense for my taste i only drink dry moselwine with bubblewater as a schorle.
That's a great video! Very well made with the mixture of cooking and talking and also very relaxing to watch. You should do more of those! Now I'm craving Spargel! 😆
Hallo Sara Spargel immer vom Kopf zum Ende schälen. Grüße aus Baden
I love asparagus, but I only eat it once or twice a year, when it's in season so it remains special. :D I normally cut the heads of the asparagus off before boiling the stalks first because I like my asparagus really soft. If I would let the heads boil as long as the stalks they would turn too mushy to be enjoyable. I also don't eat Schinken with my asparagus, just potatoes and Sauce Hollandaise (the exact same one you showed from Thomy). Spargelzeit is the best.
Hi Sarah. Thank you for your video. It made me hungry while watching it ;). There are special spargel-cooking pots you can buy in which they are cooked standing upright. As for the sauce: There is a saying, "Everything would taste fine with sauce Hollandaise, even table legs" :)
btw.: A question that popped up in my mind recently as a cat owner: How is your cat peanut dealing with all the new people in your house. I know cats are sometimes special with changes in their surrounding. Have a nice day 🌻
Damn, I made a huge mistake and should have known better. Never ever watch a video about some delicious meal when you are between breakfast and lunch time and you skipped your breakfast... It was mouthwatering and my stomach instantly announced itself. As I currently don't have asparagus at home I had to change my plans for today and will head to a nearby restaurant for lunch. 🤤
Yeah it's not fair for you guys that I publish a cooking video on Sunday, when you can't go to the store! Hahaha, sorry!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife No issue and my fault anyway. But I found a nice little restaurant where they served asparagus for lunch on that day. So I wasn't starving for long. 😅
Loved your vid :)
But as a spargel lover... it hurts a bit :'D
Peel the spargel from above, u can feel and see when its peeled enough. If it looks shiny and the "wooden feel" is gone u are done :)
And usually u dont Cook it al dente, it really isnt meant to be crunchy :D Cook it until it is soft, if i remeber correctly it is about 11-12 minutes.
My family usually does spargel with potatoes, sauce hollandais and schnitzel :)
Spargel really is a national treasure :)
I could eat it every day :D
Great tips, thanks for your help for this Spargel newbie!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Jack is right, cooking time 11 - 12 minutes, and Spargel tips you don´t need to peel, they´re soft enough, and is better peeled from the tip to the bottom. Cut the ends with a knife, but only so much as is "hölzern" = woody.
I recommend wrapping the spargel into the ham, 2 or 3 stalks per slice gekochten Schinken (cooked ham).
Myself I prefer the green variant. Maybe I´m too lazy to peel, and too thrifty not to eat all of the vegetable.
it *is* really big in germany. however, as a bit of a picky eater i only tried asparagus like 2 years ago for the first time. i had really high expectations since it was this hyped up. as a vegan i maybe used it a bit more unconvential in a pasta dish. but while i didn't think it was particularly bad i was a bit disappointed. so when my family asked me what i thought i said that and they were like "hm. yeah. honestly i'm not into aspargus much either. honestly i'm mostly looking forward to it because of the sauce hollondaise". obviously not what the majority thinks here judging by the comments just thought i'd leave it as a kind of anecdote since you also seemed to be enjoying the sauce hollondaise especially here 😅
the classic cooked aspargus with potatoes and super market sauce hollondaise is very blunt and imo not a good recipe. It's not the fault of the aspargus, though.
The Art of making Hollandaise is best learned from a cook. What happened to Your sauce is that the egg did not stay liquid as it should. This happens when You leave it unstired or/and with too much heat. I always make it when everything else is finished, because it needs Your full attention. Stiring it without pausing(!) with the Schneebesen is a MUST while adding the butter. The sauce should be light and fluffy. I make it with lemon juice so it is fresh and fruity.
Asparagus should not crack at all when You eat it. This might happen when it’s not peeled enough, or not cooked enough. As thick as your Spargel was, 7 minutes are not enough cooking time. 7 min are okay for very thin Spargel. Spargel should be soft and smooth when you eat it.
We usually have neue Kartoffeln with it, which means potatoes from the spring harvest with very thin skin and a nice yellow color.
Enjoying Your Experiments and openness to everything!
With love Cornelia
I actually use an electric hand mixer 😎 Another great tip: next time, put the lemon in at the beginning with the wine and the egg yolks. The acid is needed to create the emulsion. Hollandaise is basically a mayo with butter instead of oil.
Spargelzeit! - My favorite season in Germany. The first produce of the year that comes direct from the fields and the markets are full of the white (and green!) sprouts †hat can be had for a ridicilously low price. Up here in Sweden we still have a long way to go before we can put this year's greens on the table. Love your YT channel.
I have never seen a Spargel stand on a honor system. That would be too expensive. We have them selling both asparagus and strawberries and some student will sell it. Or some older woman will sell tem peeling some asparagus while she is waiting.
Oh interesting! Around here there is never anyone at the farm stand.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife i think its a new thing. 30y ago did not see that, think it started with the flowers and since many people wanted local farmers products they added that too
AAAHHHHHH, nicht so! 😧Spargel immer von etwas unterm Kopf in Richtung Schnittstelle schälen. Ja, wir "pop it off" auch. 🙂 Danach am besten die Schalen und Endstücke auskochen (Ins Spargelwasser ein Esslöffel Salz, ein Esslöffel Zucker und ein Spritzer Zitronensaft.) und in diesem Wasser danach den Spargel kochen - dann verliert er nicht so viel Geschmack.
I guess it's a speciality, because it's quite seasonal. People love stuff, which is only periodically available. Same goes for those awful Mon Chérie pralinés, they're only available in the fall and winter and people start buying them like crazy. Love Spargel, hate Mon Chérie though.
Nice video I think your are definitely developing you own style of video. I would love to see a video on Germany wines, liquors etc…. Keep going doing great🥰
Ooo that would be a fun one to record! Kevin and I could get really silly! And thank you for nice compliments.
Oh, I would propose to peel the asparagus from the other side. The head is tender and the most important part. So start at below the head and go to the bottom. The way you do it is to dangerous for the head.
Trockener Riesling is okay, you can also try a Grauburgunder (Pino gris).
Den Spargel von oben nach unten schälen und den Kopf aussparen. Ich hätte den Spargel aber bei der Dicke 10 Minuten gekocht.Von dem „Spargelkochwasser“ kann man noch eine Spargelsuppe kochen. Aber für den ersten Versuch nicht schlecht.
Finding a house for refugees might be pretty hard in the most expensive part of Germany. Perhaps they should move more to the east or north.
Well it being more expensive isn’t the issue - the Sozialamt pays according to the cost of living. They give refugees more money down here. The problem is the lack of housing. Which there are some parts of Germany in the north that do have more available housing than others.
Bei den meisten ist es glaube ich von der Konsitenz genau anders herum: der Spargel sollte eher weicher sein ohne zu verfallen aber nicht mehr im Mund knacken! und Salzkartoffeln lässt man bei den gängigsten Gerichten gerade so weich werden! Sie sollten nach Möglichkeit nicht zerfallen und matschig werden.....
Bei den meisten ist es glaube ich von der Konsitenz genau anders herum: der Spargel sollte eher weicher sein ohne zu verfallen aber nicht mehr im Mund knacken! und Salzkartoffeln lässt man bei den gängigsten Gerichten gerade so weich werden! Sie sollten nach Möglichkeit nicht zerfallen und matschig werden.....
I recommend buying a second fridge for your kitchen. Those are not so expensive and often have a freezer compartment as well.
I do like the Spargel better, when well cooked.
If they bend almost sloppy, they are good for me.
Just make sure, the water does boil just very very slightly. Otherwise, they will taste bitter at the end.
Next time, try to make some baken Semmelbrösel to add on top.
You just have to melt some butter in a pan, add a handful of Semmelbrösel and a bit of salt.
Then stir and wait for it to become browwn and crispy.
Just add on top of the meal
Yummy! 😋
Watch out in supermarkets. They often cover the bottom of the Esparagous with plastic bags to avoid that you can see if it is dry already !
Ooo good to know! That’s very sneaky.
I don't really care for asparagus. The bad thing about it is, that we get temporary workers from eastern Europe and pay them a lot less than minimum wage with living conditions that are also less than optimal. They tried to get students to do it but they wouldn't due to the harsh conditions.
Oh that’s terrible, didn’t know that was happening.
...the minimum wage applies also for seasonal workers, who come because it is good money for them compared to what they can earn back at home. And naturally students have trouble to do it, you actually need some skills to be a good helper at harvest.
@@swanpride Fair point. But though they might get minimum wage (the latest I knew was that hey allowed exceptions for seasonal workers), they often have to pay for food and living themselves and still share rooms with many others. We should just treat them the same as we would regional workers.
Here we use early potatoes and do them as "Pellkartoffeln", so we cook them first and then peel them, but if they are really fresh you can also eat them unpeeled. In this region we traditionally eat the aspergus only with "Schinken" and melted butter together with the potatoes.
Thomy Sauce,the best 👍Thomy light=👎
Apart from using the cooking stock from asparagus for soup, you can also just chill it and drink it just like that. Helps cleaning your kidneys!
Looks great, good job! Little tip to squeezing lemons without a squeezer.... Put a fork in the middle of the cut lemon, squeeze and then twist the fork and the lemon half to get all the juice out.
Wow ❣️ well done! Spargel kochen ist nicht einfach! Wenn der Spargel so schön dick ist koche ich ihn etwas länger 10 - 12 Minuten. Die Enden schneide ich immer mit dem Messer damit ich nichts von dem teuren Gemüse verliere 😄
Heute gibt es Spargelsuppe ❤️😄 die kocht meine Mutter immer aus der Schale vom Spargel.. LECKER 😍LG
Yummmy! Guten appetit!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife And by the way.. Your meal lookes amazing ❤️👍
Regarding hosting a ukrainian family in german I would say "ich ziehe meinen Hut" = most respect.
Heya :) enjoy your Spargel
as it happed I picked up a kilo for my mom on the farmers market (not a single stand) yesterday
she prefers to make a soup form it, so we take the broken bits, so called "Spargelbruch"
we actually live in the middle of all teh spargel fields, so we always had it
also, no need to specifically use german wine, use whatever wine you like to it
Hollondaise is more widely used, but for me as a kid growing up, brown butter (let butter melt in a pan and then add "Semmelbrösel"or some other breading ingredient) is the way to go.
On the water you cooked it in, my mum and grandma drink a cup or two in the evenening after we had Spargel, because its said to help clean out the kidneys.
I always add only a pinch of sugar. I cut the ends of the Spargel off and then peel it from top to bottom. It is also very yummy with butter and parsley. 😊
Seperating the eggs....
You are as gifted as me. 😀
There are also little helper for doing this, like little strainers or jugs with a spout.
Or you can use a metal tea strainer
Also der Spargel bei euch war wohl ein bissl fest, hat sich angehört ob ihr einer Karotte kaut. ;-)
Hi Sarah, Thanks for the great video and your recommendation for Lingoda. I am starting my first German class tomorrow. Do you preview and review the material before and after the class? I realise if I don't review the lesson, I tend to forget it very easily.
I don’t usually review the material - but I should! I would retain more of the info if I did!
When peeling asparagus, make sure to not peel the tip - it's the most flavorable part. You can easliy see of how much of the bottom should be cut off by squeezing it with two fingers. If moisture comes out, only 2-3cm should be cut off. I was a little surprised you cooked it for only 7 minutes (I cook asparagus for 12-15 minutes depending on the thickness). For me, asparagus tastes best with some melted butter and a littlebit of salt.
Asparagus is a perfect match for a hearty spring salad as well: Try Asparagus-Ruccola-Strawberry Salad with Balsamico Creme, it's soooooo delicious! Enjoy Spargelzeit :-)