RomanArmyTalk

In the Dutch town Woerden, a Roman knife was discovered that was used to ... asparagus. How do you say? Do you peel, cut, pare, skin, shell, hull, shuck, hisk bark, strip, or blanch asparagus?

I would say peel, Jona.

However, at least in America, it isn't really in common usage because the shops there only sell young asparagus that doesn't require peeling-- it isn't tough and woody. We just snap the tough ends off, and that's that. I've only ever seen asparagus peelers in NL. In fact, coming here was the first time I encountered the idea of peeling asparagus. I'm not sure how it is in England.

However, my other American friend who has lived here for 10 years calls it an asparagus "peeler" so I'd go with that.

what a selection of verbs! I am amazed. My (English) cookbook (yes, I am working from home today and could just run to the kitchen) says that you "shave" asparagus. Which sounds extremely odd. And isn't in your compilation of asparagus preparation vocabulary... Ah yes, and I'm not sure if its correct either...maybe the author of my cookbook is having me on :-) )

C.

Let's just say it was an 'asparagus knife'

BTW, How did they come to that conclusion Jona?

Quote:BTW, How did they come to that conclusion Jona?

The shape of the grip (hilt?) resembles an asparagus. Here is the official press bulletin, but it is in Dutch.

This is the first time I've ever heard of peeling asparagus. Normally,according to sources such as the Foodnetwork,etc , the veg is
cut(pared,trimmed) or sometomes snapped off at the bottom 1/4 or
so to remove the "woodier" lower part. I realize other places may do it differently.
Honestly, I like Peroni's suggestion best-asparagus knife.

Will this lead to another great food thread??? That was much fun.

Jonah,you may already know it but blanching is a cooking process.Here in
the southern U.S. they usually boil it within an inch of it's life.

Very interesting. I have not heard of this type of knife decoration before. My wife displays Roman cuisine would be very interested.

Was it a folding knife or just a straight tanged handle?

So there are more similar finds in Germany, but this is the first from the Netherlands is that correct?

Quote:So there are more similar finds in Germany, but this is the first from the Netherlands is that correct?

That is correct; or at least, that is what the archaeologists claim, which in Holland does not necessarily mean that its true, cf. this article or this one. Still, I have confidence that the Woerden archaeologists are pretty sincere.

Quote:Was it a folding knife or just a straight tanged handle?

As far as I know, it was the handle of a straight knife.

Quote:Jonah,you may already know it but blanching is a cooking process.

Thanks for the remark! I appreciate it very much.

Quote:This is the first time I've ever heard of peeling asparagus. Normally,according to sources such as the Foodnetwork,etc , the veg is
cut(pared,trimmed) or sometomes snapped off at the bottom 1/4 or
so to remove the "woodier" lower part. I realize other places may do it differently.
Honestly, I like Peroni's suggestion best-asparagus knife.

Will this lead to another great food thread??? That was much fun.

Jonah,you may already know it but blanching is a cooking process.Here in
the southern U.S. they usually boil it within an inch of it's life.

As I said, same for me. Americans are just used to young tender asparagus that doesn't need peeling. However, in Europe it is common to sell older, tougher woodier asparagus. In order to make it edible, the woody outer bit has to be peeled off. Of course, it's still tender if you break off enough of it, but then there's lots of waste. Peeling the asparagus may be a frugality measure to make more of less fresh vegetables edible.

It's a shame that this is what Europeans are used to-- I grew up on the fresh stuff that came from my mom's garden every spring. It's worlds apart. Even so, I find that the american storebought stuff still wins over the european variety. There also seems to be a preference here fro white asparagus. I have no idea. It's hardly available in the US, and I find when I do see it here it's always tougher and woodier. I'd much rather have the green.

Modern asparagus peelers:

[url:35p2kvz9]http://www.zena.ch/e_spargel.html[/url]
[url:35p2kvz9]http://www.kitchenkitchen.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.100.exe/scstore/p-rsvpasparagus.html?E+scstore[/url]
[url:35p2kvz9]http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledge/knowledge.asp?catitemid=114&id=817[/url]

But it doesn't sound like the same thing, I just thought I'd share an amazing invention....

Christy,I know exactly what you mean. My wife was thrilled to find a jar of white asparagus at an international market. She's German.

Hey, Jona. I thought you might be able to use this bit of trivia for future reference. In culinary terms, in English, blanching involves a quick dip in boiling water. There's no knife involved.

Speaking of European and American food choices. It has been my experience that Europeans do not consider turnips human food, mainly left for livestock. However here in the Appalachians its very common to eat them as a substitute for potatoes. But then again there are things eaten here, and in the South that most other Americans wouldnt even consider such as raccoons, possums, groundhogs, squirrels etc etc

Not to derail the thread further, but turnips were the tuber of choice in Ireland before the potato was brought there.

Quote:It's a shame that this is what Europeans are used to-- I grew up on the fresh stuff that came from my mom's garden every spring. It's worlds apart. Even so, I find that the american storebought stuff still wins over the european variety. There also seems to be a preference here fro white asparagus. I have no idea. It's hardly available in the US, and I find when I do see it here it's always tougher and woodier. I'd much rather have the green.

Being from Germany and living in California now (northern California, fresh produce mecca), and also the hobby cook in the household, I have to interfere here in defense of my homeland ;-) )
No offense, but I have the suspicion that you guys don't know how to prepare white asparagus, which is a shame, because it's truly one of the world's greatest vegetables. Here a bit of trivia: The main difference between white and green asparagus is that white asparagus is grown completely covered with earth so that it doesn't take on any color (= chlorophyll) which then deludes the "true" white asparagus flavor. This is also why it's usually much more expensive (has to be harvested by hand, a very strenuous job), and hence it gets a thicker "skin" and needs to be peeled before cooking.
I like both kinds, but flavor-wise there is simply no comparison. Green asparagus (or the even more rare purple kind) is much milder in "asparagus" flavor, needs to be cooked only a few minutes and doesn't need to be peeled. It's great quickly steamed and dressed with a vinaigrette, roasted, grilled etc. Thanks to green asparagus' fast cooking time, it's more versatile.
To really enjoy white asparagus, on the other hand, there are a few simple rules:
a) freshness: In the U.S., I have never seen white asparagus worth buying. The stuff that comes to the markets here (and again, I live in California wine country, where much more produce is available than in the rest of the country) usually comes from Peru and is way too old.
b) Once one gets his/her greedy hands on some yummy, tender, white asparagus (preferable from Bavaria or Rhineland Palatinate in Germany or the Loire in France), peel it. It's kind of tedious, but after doing it a few times, you get better at it.
c) Now, as to preparation, here is the main difference: It can't be cooked to be slightly crunchy like green asparagus, but has to be cooked much longer (about 20 minutes). Only when it's totally soft will you experience its true magic. To enhance the asparagus flavor even more, cook in boiling water with some salt, sugar, butter (melted in the water) and lemon juice.
After that, you can eat it warm (extremely yummy with a home-made hollandaise sauce, also in combination with ham or even mushrooms/especially chanterelles, or in soups, even in combination with some seafood/shrimps) or cold (dress with a simple vinaigrette made either from chopped shallots, wine vinegar, olive oil and a dollop of dijon mustard, also good with a dill-based vinaigrette).
As to wine, there is only one wine in the world that really goes with asparagus (whether white or green), and that is the Silvaner varietal (grown in Germany's Franconia Region, also in Rhineland-Palatinate and parts of Alsace). Sorry for the lecture, but I love to eat and cook!

Two more tips about white asparagus: To tell whether it's fresh or not, simply look at the cut ends. If it's brown/woody, it's not fresh.
To keep asparagus in the fridge fresh longer, wrap in a moist towel.