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Fresh Asparagus

A simple preparation of fresh asparagus with salt, butter, and optional sauces.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Asparagus and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,026 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Fresh Asparagus

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the lower parts of the asparagus stalks where they snap.

  2. Wash the asparagus, remove any scales, and re‑tie the bunches.

Cook

  1. Cook in boiling salted water for 15 minutes, keeping the tips out of the water for the first 10 minutes.

  2. To reduce bitterness in white asparagus, parboil, drain, and add fresh boiling water, then boil until tender.

Serve

  1. Drain, remove any strings, and add 1 tablespoon of browned butter for each pound of asparagus.

  2. Alternatively, serve with white sauce, cream sauce, or sprinkle with bread crumbs sautéed in hot butter.

  3. Serve on toast.

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

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. Asparagus + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,026 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Asparagus
Is the main vegetable; its tender stalks and tips are cooked until soft.
Butter
Adds richness and a nutty flavour when browned and spooned over the cooked asparagus.

The step that matters

Keeping the tips out of the water. Tips cook faster than the thick stalks because they are more delicate. Holding them above the water for the first 10 minutes lets them steam gently, so they stay tender instead of turning mushy while the stalks finish cooking.

“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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