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Asparagus

A preserved asparagus dish made by blanching, salting, and hot-water sterilizing in a jar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Asparagus

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the asparagus

  1. Wash and scrape off scales and tough skin from the asparagus.

  2. Bind together enough asparagus for one jar with a string.

  3. Blanch the tough ends for 5 to 10 minutes.

  4. Turn the bundle to blanch the entire bundle for 5 minutes longer.

  5. Cold-dip the asparagus.

  6. Remove the string.

Pack and seal

  1. Pack the asparagus in the jar with tip ends up.

  2. Add 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt.

  3. Cover with boiling water.

  4. Put on a rubber top.

  5. Adjust the top bail or screw top with your thumb and little finger.

  6. Sterilize in a hot-water bath for 120 minutes.

  7. Remove the jar from the bath.

  8. Complete the seal.

  9. Cool.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Asparagus
Is the main ingredient preserved in the jar, and it keeps its texture after blanching and sterilizing.
Coarse sea salt
Seasons the asparagus and helps preserve it in the jar.

The step that matters

Complete the seal. A jar that is not fully sealed will let air and microbes in, so the asparagus may spoil. Seal the jar correctly after the bath so it stays preserved during storage.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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