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To Boil Asparagus

A boiled asparagus dish served with toasted bread, butter, and optional vinegar or mayonnaise.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Acton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

To Boil Asparagus

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Scrape the stems of the asparagus lightly, within one to two inches of the green tender points.

  2. Place the asparagus in cold water as they are prepared.

  3. Tie the asparagus in bunches of equal size.

  4. Cut the large ends evenly so all asparagus are the same length.

Boil and serve on toast

  1. Boil the asparagus in plenty of boiling water.

  2. Cut a round of bread half an inch thick, remove the crust, and toast until delicately brown on both sides.

  3. When the asparagus is tender, lift it out directly.

  4. Dip the toast quickly into the boiling water, then place the asparagus on the toast with the points meeting in the centre.

  5. Serve with melted butter.

  6. Stir a small quantity of vinegar into the sauce before serving (optional).

Make the stewed points

  1. Cut asparagus points into bits no more than one-third inch, wash clean.

  2. Boil the points in plenty of boiling water with salt and a few grains of carbonate of soda for 10–12 minutes until tender.

  3. Drain and spread the points on a clean cloth; fold over, wipe gently, and dry.

  4. Put the points into a clean stewpan with a good slice of butter, just dissolved before adding the asparagus.

  5. Stew over a brisk fire, shaking often, for 8–10 minutes.

  6. Dredge in about a small teaspoonful of flour and add half that quantity of white sugar.

  7. Pour in boiling water to nearly cover the asparagus and boil rapidly until only a little liquid remains.

Finish and serve

  1. Stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs.

  2. Heap the asparagus high in a dish and serve hot.

  3. The sauce should adhere entirely to the vegetable as in green peas à la Française.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

635Calories
19 gProtein
18 gFat
96 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Eliza Acton. 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.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Asparagus (in the method)
The main vegetable, softened by boiling until tender enough to lift out and serve.
Eggs
Beaten yolks thicken the sauce and bind it to the asparagus as they cook.
Butter
Melted butter adds richness and fat, and coats the asparagus with flavour.
Flour
Flour thickens the buttery liquid so the sauce clings to the vegetable.

The step that matters

Boil rapidly until only a little liquid remains. Reducing the liquid concentrates it and, with the flour and yolks, thickens it so the sauce clings to the asparagus instead of pooling in the dish.

“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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