Comments on: Love letter with animosity and asparagus

By: kinsey

kinsey — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:03:59 +0000

I'm very much a late-comer to the Orangette party, having impulse-purchased your book on one of those "I-need-something-new-in-my-life" days, as much for the color combination on the cover as for the content inside. Fortunately, I wasn't disappointed. I fell in love with your quirkiness, warmth, and food descriptions immediately as I discovered yet another writer who magically writes the way I think. Discovering that you have an entire blog full of such stories and recipes is really just the proverbial icing on the cake. I've been undertaking the mission of reading through the archives on slow afternoons, and today, I arrived here at your asparagus recipe.

This is one of the many ways I enjoy my asparagus, but it took much coaxing for me to get there. In the beginning, I could eat it only one way, and I find that way is still my favorite, worth sharing: lightly coated with olive oil and (strangely) raw sugar, then quickly sauteed in a very hot pan on the stove. The sugar forms a nice little crust that acts very similarly to your roasting process, locking in the flavor but also adding a bit of sweetness to the concentrated, sometimes pungent green-ness (yes, I think things taste like colors) of the asparagus.

Thank you so much for sharing your food/life (is there a difference?) with us!

By: kinsey

kinsey — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:03:59 +0000

By: Mysterious

Mysterious — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:54:00 +0000

Brilliantly written, loved the expressions.

By: Molly

Molly — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 20:12:00 +0000

Amen for vegetable evangelists, Nicole Marie! I’m so glad to hear that the asparagus was such a hit–and I’m horrendously jealous that you’re in France.

By: Nicole Marie

Nicole Marie — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 10:42:00 +0000

I just had to let you know that I made this asparagus tonight and it was a revelation.... My family has always been a vegetable-steaming family, and asparagus was always cooked that way, with butter and salt after cooking, so for years I never even conceived of cooking it a different way.Now that I've left the familial nest and asparagus is finally a decent price at the Toulouse marché du boulevard Strasbourg, I've had the chance to rebell against my upbringing. It was the best asparagus I've ever had, and I've sent this link to my parents in hope they might break with tradition and give it a go.I suddenly feel like a vegetable evangelist.Keep up the fabulous writing.

By: Molly

Molly — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 21:51:00 +0000

A Vagrant Appetite, let me know if you come up with an anchovy-paste rendition. Sounds like a good experiment!

By: A Vagrant Appetite

A Vagrant Appetite — Fri, 08 Apr 2005 18:36:00 +0000

Amazing, I’m glad I’ve found another asparagus aficionado, truly the best vegetable of the season. I’ve been thinking about trying it with some kind of anchovy paste, but really, there’s not much you can do to improve fresh asparagus on its own!

By: Molly

Molly — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 19:42:00 +0000

Thank you, Zarah Maria! Keep up the good asparagus work.And Amy, I’ll be sending all sorts of abundant-and-perfectly-cooked-asparagus vibes your way…

By: amylou

amylou — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 15:58:00 +0000

Thanks for this, Molly. I too love roasted asparagus but last time I made it I drew a total blank as to how long I should have it in there and ended up totally killing it. The asparagus shrivels not only looks unapetzing on the plate, they lost their taste.Now if Malmö would just get on the ball. Asparagus isn't overflowing the shelves here like it seems to be doing everywhere else.

By: Zarah Maria

Zarah Maria — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 19:07:00 +0000

Loving your writing – I hope you’ll never get tired of hearing that, ’cause I’m gonna abuse the sentence a couple more times, I’m sure. We had the loveliest day here today, and ta-dah: asparagus at the market. I grilled mine on a grill pan – lovely! But will of course have to try roasting them soon. Oh, and then I have to try Seattle, too!:-)