Asparagus

Ingredients

• a quart of water
• a quarter of an ounce of salt
• butter
• Tarragon vinegar
• a squeeze of a lemon

Method

1. 1

   Asparagus should be carefully washed, tied in little bundles with all the heads level, and put into fast boiling water with salt.

2. 2

   Boil according to Sir Henry Thompson’s method, with nearly two inches of the heads out of the water.

3. 3

   Boil for thirty to forty minutes.

4. 4

   Drain carefully and serve dry in a hot dish with melted butter and a few drops of Tarragon vinegar.

5. 5

   Asparagus can also be served cold with mayonnaise sauce.

Nutrition per serving

Estimated from matched ingredients across 4 servings.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book (1898) by Roundell, Charles Mrs, page 221. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

ASPARAGUS. Asparagus should be carefully washed, tied with tape in little bundles with all the heads level, or set in one of the steamers sold for the purpose at 119 New Bond Street.- It should be put into fast boiling water, in which a quarter of an ounce of salt has been added to each quart of 320 ASPARAGUS water. The saucepan must be deep, and the Asparagus ought to be boiled according to Sir Henry Thompson’s method, viz. : “ Nearly two inches of the heads should be out of the water, “ the steam sufficing to cook them, as they form the tenderest “ part of the plant ; while the hard, stalky part is rendered “ soft and succulent by the longer boiling which this plan “ permits. Instead of the orthodox twenty minutes allotted to “ average Asparagus lying horizontally, in the English manner, “ which half cooks the stalk and over cooks the head, diminish - “ ing its flavour and consistence, a period of thirty or forty “ minutes on the plan recommended will render fully a third “ more of the stalk delicious, while the head will be properly “ cooked by the steam alone.” Asparagus must be boiled with the lid of the pan off, and should boil steadily. It must be most carefully drained after boiling, and if tapes have been used they must, of course, be removed. Asparagus must be served dry in a hot dish. Melted butter should be handed, made very hot, and with a few drops of Tarragon vinegar stirred into it at the last moment. The best sauce for Asparagus is the real Beurre Fondu as eaten in Hol- land — that is, butter melted in a saucepan, flavoured with a pinch of salt and of pepper, and the squeeze of a lemon

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.