British asparagus season is here!

The wonderful thing about eating seasonally is that it really makes an occasion out of consuming the best produce. The British asparagus season is finally upon us starting on 23rd April running for a short couple of months.  We’ve enjoyed the building anticipation before it finally arrives in the shops and will be making the most if it.

Foreign asparagus is available all year round and it does somewhat diminish the specialness of it, plus you really can’t top the British variety.

From planting the crowns, it takes around  two years before the asparagus reaches maturity and is good enough to harvest. Once fully flourishing though, the spears can be cut, after which, it takes only 24 hours for a new shoot to appear and grow to an appreciable length. After a slow start it goes off like a rocket!

We discovered that it tastes so much better if you roast it. The flavour becomes concentrated, something that boiling takes away. Just get the oven nice and hot, put the spears into an ovenproof dish, drizzle with some extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil or olive oil, pop in the oven for about 10 minutes and you have perfectly cooked asparagus.

For asparagus cooked in this way, try this recipe using wild venison chorizo from Great Glen Charcuterie, which complements the minerally taste of the asparagus so well.