The Bountiful German Vegetable

Blog Post #3

April 20, 2015

By: Justin Ehren

Vegetables are very commonly served in the German culture especially with stews and soups.  One of the most popular vegetables they serve is their asparagus, and they call it white asparagus or spargel.  This kind of asparagus is a very common side dish and sometimes even an entire main dish.  It’s so popular that when it is in season, German restaurants will devote their entire menu to nothing but this white asparagus.  It’s season begins in mid- May and ends in late June usually; however, because this season is quite short, German people go crazy for their spargel during this time of year.  Asparagus is not only popular in Germany though, it is eaten in other nations such as France, Italy, and the U.S..  However Germany’s differs from most other countries because they eat white asparagus while the other nations have the more common green asparagus.  They are pretty similar but Germany gets theirs white by growing them underground under piles of dirt, called hillings.  This way the production of chlorophyll prevents the spears from turning green.  In Germany, people are thought of not being too picky about the freshness and quality of their food.  Although, for their white asparagus, this is not the case at all, Germans often spend big bucks for their freshly picked spears of asparagus and buy it directly from the farmers markets.  The vegetable was introduced to the Germans some 2000 years ago and today it is incredibly popular amongst the German population.
Here is a link to read a little more about their favorite vegetable: http://www.houstoniamag.com/eat-and-drink/gastronaut/articles/charivari-rings-in-spring-with-spargel-riesling-april-2015 

"Germans Go Crazy for White Asparagus | Culture | DW.DE | 02.05.2011."DW.DE. Web. 21 Apr. 2015. <http://www.dw.de/germans-go-crazy-for-white-asparagus/a-15043449>.