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Boiled Asparagus

Boiled asparagus cooked in salted water, served on toast with melted butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Isabella Beeton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 5 ingredients
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Boiled Asparagus

Boiled Asparagus

5 persons

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Add 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt to each 1/2 gallon of water; add asparagus.

  2. Scrape the white part of the stems from the head. Throw the stems into cold water.

  3. Tie the stems into bundles of about 20 each, keeping the heads all one way. Cut the stalks evenly so they are the same length.

Cook and serve

  1. Put the bundles into boiling water with salt. Keep boiling quickly until tender, with the saucepan uncovered.

  2. Dish the asparagus onto toast dipped in the cooking water; leave the white ends outwards, with the points meeting in the middle.

  3. Serve with a tureen of melted butter.

By Isabella Beeton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. See the original page.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Asparagus (in the method)
Forms the main body of the dish, and its tender stalks and tips are the part that is eaten.
Salt
Seasons the cooking water so the asparagus is seasoned as it cooks.
Melted butter (in the method)
Adds richness and fat that complements the mild flavour of the asparagus.

The step that matters

Keep boiling quickly until tender, with the saucepan uncovered. A fast, rolling boil keeps the water hot enough to cook the stalks evenly and quickly. Leaving the pan uncovered lets volatile compounds escape, which helps keep the bright green colour and fresh flavour of the asparagus.

“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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