Today's food from heaven

[Jenise]

Asparagus tamales. OMG OMG OMG. I love tamales and I love asparagus but have to admit that the combination sounded interesting but not exactly compelling. Now that I've had them?

Well it's better than good. I'll be dreaming about these until I can get back to the shop where I bought them (hot from the steamer) later this week.

OMG.

I never got asparagus, so one year I grew them so I could try them fresh picked. Still did nothing.

I had to Google what tamales were; never had them, wouldn't know where to get them..

So, you can have my share

I never got asparagus, so one year I grew them so I could try them fresh picked. Still did nothing.

They're part of that whole class of 'stuff you get in early spring' along with fiddleheads and ramps and a few others. They're all herbaceous and bitter, which is good if you like that sort of thing. (Asparagus are much in demand so people arrange to grow them all year round, practically; the others, not so much.)

[Jenise]

Peter, I'm surprised by your "so one year I grew them". Essentially, you don't get anything impressive from a baby plant. Typically you leave them for three years before you allow yourself to start harvesting. And skinny new spears don't have nearly the flavor that the fat ones that older plants produce. That said, you are probably not destined to be an asparagus lover. Do you like Sauvignon Blanc? It's often associated with asparagus flavors and it's possible that, in the majority, dislikers of one are also dislikers of the other.

A Dutch friend cooked me lunch once - a dish he said was a common choice in early spring when the asparagus first comes through, and is the first new green to appear in the garden. Boiled potatoes, boiled eggs (yolk still gooey), and lightly-boiled or steamed asparagus. Delicious.

Peter, I'm surprised by your "so one year I grew them". Essentially, you don't get anything impressive from a baby plant

Perhaps I should have written that one year I planted them. They are a perennial.

I love Sauvignon Blanc, asparagus I don't.