Ah, the days are getting longer (yay), the weather is blissfully warmer (yay), and the birds are chirping away (would be nice if they didn’t start at 6am…but still, yay). Spring finally seems to be here.This season is all about the good times: weddings, school break, long walks, and the asparagus harvest. Okay, well, maybe asparagus is not the first thing that comes to mind. For me though, nothing says “end of Winter” like crisp, fresh asparagus.

Come May in Ontario, fruit and veggie purveyors around the province start stocking up on several delicious varieties of local asparagus. For the most part, we find the young and mature green variety and the white variety. There is also an elusive purple variety (which, if you happen to find some, feel free to send my way). Asparagus is a member of the Lily family, one the most tasty I might add, and is a nutritionally dense food, containing folacin, potassium, rutin, and fibre among other things.

Of course, the topic of asparagus always seems to bring up the question of funny-smelling pee. Yes, it’s true asparagus can make your urine smell odd. Asparagus has certain sulphuric compounds called methyl mercaptan, which, when broken down in the digestive tract, will set your urine off a bit. But that isn’t the case for all people. Only the right genetic makeup allows people to produce and/or smell the effects of asparagus. I (sigh) have been blessed with the genes for both – so take a word of advice, avoid eating asparagus before a night on the town, lest you wish to garner the attention of fellow bathroom goers.

These days asparagus is not exactly the most exotic vegetable on the block, though you might think so given how often it is improperly cooked. Heed my words friends:

DO NOT OVERCOOK YOUR ASPARAGUS

For god’s sake this is a delicate shoot, not a root vegetable. Nothing is worse than mushy asparagus (and same goes with brussels sprouts, no wonder kids don’t like them). Asparagus is best cooked when blanched in salted boiling water for 2-5 minutes, no more. This is really the kind of vegetable that tastes best with a little crunch to it. For thicker stalks, peel the asparagus from just below the head and trim away about an inch or so from the bottom. It may seem a little labour intensive to peel your asparagus, but you will be duly rewarded when it come time to eat them. The younger shoots, with a far less fibrous skin, need not be peeled at all.

For a really quick and super tasty sauce, place a few tablespoons of butter in a hot pan just until it starts to turn brown (1-2 minutes). Simply drizzle the butter (what the French call Beurre Noisette) over the blanched asparagus with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of salt and you’ve got an instant family classic. And, for those older members of the family, asparagus has historically found fame for its reported aphrodisiac qualities. Alas, like most foods considered to be aphrodisiacs, there is no real scientific basis for such a claim. Then again, sometimes placebos are just as good as the real thing – and its not often that you find a placebo that tastes this good.