With half the short British asparagus season already under our belts, Lesley Foottit looks at how pub chefs are making the most of this fleeting delicacy on their menus.
With British asparagus in season for just six weeks, pub chefs need to move fast to cash in on this increasingly popular vegetable.
The demand for asparagus has been growing year-on-year and within the UK demand is so high that not one spear is exported. Asparagus Week kicked off to coincide with the first crops on 3 May and many pub caterers are now using it in a range of dishes on their menus.
Classic recipes to bring out the natural taste include asparagus with hollandaise sauce, egg yolk or simply salt, pepper and butter.
Keiron Stanbourn, executive chef of the Swan at the Globe, in Bankside, London, put asparagus on his menu on 4 May and expects to keep it on until mid-June. The pub offers three asparagus-based starters — cold asparagus with vinaigrette (£8), asparagus soup with a poached hen's egg (£5.50) and hot asparagus with hollandaise sauce (£8), which is the most popular.
"Asparagus flies out," says Stanbourn. "It always sells well when it is in season and is a profitable dish."
The pub sources its asparagus from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, through Rob Davies of Fresh Source, a wholesaler at New Covent Garden Market (NCGM), the largest fresh produce market in the UK, supplying more than 40% of the fresh produce on the plate outside the home in London.
John Woodward, executive chef for Malmaison, which owns Clerkenwell's Fox & Anchor gastropub, says simplicity is key. The pub regularly sells out of its £7.25 asparagus dish with soft boiled duck's egg. "It is the perfect dish to complement asparagus. The asparagus sticks are intended to be like bread soldiers to dip in the soft yolk. There's only a very short window with asparagus," says Woodward. "We try not to mess about with it too much. It's best with egg yolk or just simply salt, pepper and butter."
Other dishes on the menu include guinea fowl with chargrilled unpeeled asparagus and peas (£16.95), wild sea bass with a tomato & clam fondue & asparagus (£17.95) and a spaghetti primevera with asparagus, peas & other spring vegetables with tarragon & chervil (£12.95).
The pub uses New Covent Garden Market for its supplies. "We have digital images showing the asparagus being cut and and packed the night before, which we display on the bar. That way our customers know our product is as fresh as possible."
For more ideas for recipes visit www.britishasparagus.co.uk.
Extending the season
This is a very busy time of year for John Chinn and his team at Cobrey Farms. When the first asparagus tips emerge through the earth it's all hands on deck to get this most prized of English gems from the field and onto the forks of the nation.
Despite the traditionally short six- week English asparagus season, the Chinns have made full use of modern growing techniques to ensure extended availability. Earlier varieties grown under tunnels are now available from mid-March, with later varieties seeing supplies through to as late as October.
Wye Valley Asparagus employs around 1,000 people during the peak growing season of May and June. With 750 acres of asparagus to be harvested and an extra 100 acres being planted every year to keep up with demand, the crowns can grow at the rate of two centimetres per hour in peak season.
Chinn says: "English asparagus is considered the best due to its sweeter flavour - this comes as a result of the British weather, ensuring that the spears take longer to grow and, therefore, develop a higher sugar content. But it is the freshness that people love. Imported asparagus is unlikely to reach the markets in less than six days, and with English asparagus it can be on the plate within 24 hours — you can't really beat that for freshness."
Market forces
Of 20 tonnes of Wye Valley asparagus picked daily in peak season, about 2.5 tonnes (835 boxes) is sent to London's premier wholesale market, New Covent Garden Market (NCGM) weekly for sale to the catering and independent retail trade.
Rob Davies of Fresh Source, a wholesale fruit and vegetable supplier to the catering and restaurant trade, is just one of the many tenants at NCGM who sells asparagus to a variety of independent catering operators. Among his customers are pub licensees, chefs and restaurateurs from across London, the Home Counties, and as far afield as Swindon.
Davies says: "Our biggest English asparagus customers are chefs from the pub and restaurant trade due to the huge popularity of local asparagus as a seasonal food. With consumers increasingly demanding local and seasonal produce, English asparagus fits the bill perfectly."
With English asparagus being the favourite of chefs across the UK, Davies expects to sell approximately 3 tonnes at around £2.70 per 14oz bundle across the season.