How Farmers Transform Green Asparagus Into 'White Gold' | So Expensive | Insider Business
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- Опубліковано 15 чер 2024
- White asparagus, often referred to as "white gold," can cost three times as much as green asparagus. It's colorless, has a much thicker stalk, and is harvested mainly throughout Central Europe for just three months of the year. During this brief period, farms in the area and restaurants around the world offer white-asparagus dishes on their menus.
Chef Erwin Schröttner from Cafe Katja in New York City says white asparagus is much juicier than the green variety, and he serves his stalks freshly peeled, boiled, and smothered in hollandaise sauce with various side dishes. But because white asparagus has to be grown in a specialized way that keeps the stalk underground for longer periods of time, these meals come at a premium. Farms like Jakobs-Hof in Beelitz, Germany, work around the clock to make sure their asparagus stalks maintain their pure white color and are of the highest quality.
Cafe Katja's website: www.cafekatja.com/
Jakobs-Hof website: www.jakobs-hof.de/Beelitz/
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How Farmers Transform Green Asparagus Into 'White Gold' | So Expensive Food | Insider Business
I didn't realize white asparagus is not commonly known outside of europe. It's so interesting for me, because here it's a normal thing.
yeah here in the US, 99% of us have never heard of white asparagus lol.
Is it though? I live in central europe and only had them only once because price/kg is so astronomical.
I'm a 30 yo single man, middle level income, love to travel and eat something new and interesting but not unusual or extreme stuff..
Asparagus is not on my list of things that i have eaten just yet.. maybe soon if i didn't forget about it again..
Umm.. anyone care to explain to me how it tastes?..
@@ranggaorionthe taste is different depending on the time, but usually during the asparagus season: March till May/June, this time it’s the cheapest and most asparagus is harvested during this time span.
The typical asparagus menu is as follows: Asparagus, Sauce Bernais or Sauce Hollondaise, potatoes and parsley.
The taste is slightly sweet and no very intense. The head of the asparagus is the finest and very soft
What is even asparagus
I've been growing my own white asparagus here in the U.S. for ages, but since I'm just a small-scale homestead, I use plant pots to cover them up and keep them from going green. I had no idea they could fetch such a high price here. Maybe I should call that Spargel guy up in New York and start scaling up my production. Lol
You should
That would be really cool. I actually have a craving for white asparagus now too. I'll be on the lookout for some at the store.
The traditional technique is to just press the earth down to make it flat. You will see when the asparagus comes out of the earth very easyly then by looking at cracks in the surface. Disadvantage is you have to look at them every day.
Yes I was thinking it should be as easy as blocking the sun, you could even have an inside grow room with no/dim lights and it could double as a mushroom grow room
Do they turn big like the ones shown? I only do it with garlic chives, the size is the same as normally grown garlic chives
My parents grow white asparugus and i can tell you from experience. Those massive thick ones he praises are the worst you van get. The best tasting and tender ones are like half that size and way more expensive.
hahahahahaha...calling out his BS. Definitely feels like he is selling his restaurant rather than being an expert on asparagus.
Taste varies, but I am also from a Spargel region and I am on his side.The thick ones can lose taste and get definitely harder to cook correctly.
@@shubhamshukla5923he is right
I’m from Austria - it’s kind of odd to see asparagus being eaten with prosciutto. All my life I’ve only seen it served with ham!
I grew up in the lower Rhine region of Germany close to the dutch border. Nobody had green asparagus. White was the norm and 1kg was about 5.00. Chopp off the thick bottom and shave off the skin. That as already the base for stock. Shave down the tender stalks and the shavings are base for asparagus stock and the blender.
The even stalks were simmered in water with a wee of white wine and soritz lemon, wrapped in cold real Kochschinken, served with cooked potatoes ad just drizzled with melted unsalted butter.
A fine feast on summer Sunday lunches during Spargelseason. Yum food memories ❤❤🎉
1kg/5€ is pretty good, they made it sound like a5 waghu beef.
@@JLneonhug my quote of DM 5/ kg was related to the time I mentioned. That was Deutsche Mark...way before £. Think of 1975-70 But still at the time in Germany the price was DM11/ kg during season. I'm terribly sorry that I did not give a relatable time-frame.
I tend to forget a) my age in context and b) my comments read and misunderstood due to lack of a)... there now! 🤣😎
@@JLneonhug So bottom line: white asparagus is still VERY expensive "no diggidy... no doubt!"😎
@@timomonochrom115fürn n halbes key über 13€ zu zahlen ist schon selten dämlich😂😂
@@transverbot Stimmt! Aber die Arbeit die rein geht muss wehrt sein und bezahlt weedon. Denkste nicht,
I work at a Dutch greengrocer, here white asparagus are known as just asparagus and the green ones are known as green asparagus. We have tons of customers who happily pay 15 euros for half a kilo of asparagus (white ones). People always get sad when the season ends :(
Dang, how good can it be!
@@Liusila
30euro for a kilo is excessive, you can find a slightly lower quality at most of the weekly open-air markets or at LIDL for 5-15euro per kilo.
Part of the appeal is that they are only available fresh for a few months.
Same in Spain, white asparagus is the default. 15 euro gets you half a kilo of particularly good quality ones from Navarre, but you can find cheaper ones.
Frankly it doesn’t have taste at all. Very bland and you have to put some kind of sauce on it to make it tasty. I much prefer green asparagus
@@repentandbelieveinJesusChrist9 Enjoy your spam report you religious nutcase.
I grew up in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere and had never heard of white asparagus until I studied abroad in Germany while in college. My flat mate made us a wonderful going away breakfast of white asparagus, pancakes (thinner than American but thicker than a crepe), ham and hollandaise sauce. I see white asparagus in the store every once in a while but I’ve never tried to recreate that magical meal.
If you ever decide to try: Make sure to clean the asparagus and remove all the outer skin. If you leave a single bit of it on there, the asparagus will taste woody after you have cooked it and be all stringy.
@@food7479 Thank you! I didn’t see how much my flat mate peeled off so I wasn’t sure how diligent to be.
Never seen somebody love asparagus as much as this man
He loves money I guess.
You have been fooled by the mass media and education system 👉 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖
Visit Germany, you will find lots of people who love it.
if you ever had white aspargus, you will know why
Ohh I love it as much as he does. During asparagus season I eat it at least 3 times a week
I'm a Chef from Germany and i grew up with asparagus and sauce hollandaise. It's dang delicious. Absolutely love the dish.
Fellow dude from Brandenburg here - nothing like grabbing 3-4 pounds (2kg) for 20-30€ directly from a booth during the season and putting it on the bbq...dang I can't wait for next saison!
I am a Student from Austria and i grew up with asparagus and sauce hollandaise aswell. I agree with everything this guy stands for.
I agree chef,The best vege is white asparagus, perfect combination classic n modern cuisine, I'm asian chef from Malaysia 🇲🇾 my ex chef de cuisine come from Stuttgart Germany,so humble people
haha, I am Dutch, and making them "à la Flamande" is the BEST there is. IE white asparagus with good cooked ham, sauce Hollandaise, some very nice potatoes (I take Opperdoeser Ronde) and some hard cooked eggs (topped with a sprinkle of Parsley).
hope you do your hollandaise by yourself and dont use that convenience dirt
Here in France the price of the white asparagus is determined a lot by the size and the season, you can find them cheap if they are thin and at the mid season.
Wow I never knew this, grew up eating white asparagus almost every week with a salad and never knew they were expensive, so weird
Depends on where you are or were :). For example: I grew up in Thailand and seafood was dirt cheap, now I'm in the Netherlands and it's hella expensive.
Privilege
@@MrOscar5690 Things cost different prices in other parts of the world genius 💀If you live by an apple farm the apples are going to be a lot cheaper than if you lived in Antarctica.
Depends if you know the farmer on average its €11 per kilo
I guess u had white privilege lolz
FYI: The tool to harvest asparagus called "Spargelstecher" literally translates to "asparagus stabber"
And the person holding it is an extremely hard working polish worker…
I thought it was a tyre iron...
@@sillytorque also called a spargelstecher
As soon as I saw the title of the video, I knew it was going to take place in Germany! We just love the stuff
Ja 😂
that's epok bro!
I can't blame you, they are very nice.
Really... like the dutch dont eat any.. or the french.. belgians.. come on..
It's really liked in Spain too!
This dude has a legit Asparagus peeling technique. I had so much respect for my gran peeling these once I tried it, I later found out she bought them pre-peeled. It's weird seeing this common it this context
Lmfao, scam-gran.. 😂
Thank you Insider for this video! living and working here in Germany for years, seeing this beautiful asparagus every springtime season here.Where People here are so hyped about this vegetable. 😁
10 days of shelf life is rough, no wonder why my wife never even heard of these until I told her about them.
I grew up in Germany and used them eat them all the time. Lecker!
Woher ist deine Frau?
You have been fooled by the mass media and education system 👉 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖
@@bernddasbanenenbrot4679 Amerika
@@VeganSemihCyprus33 Enjoy your account report, spam lord.
So the farmers in Germany rely on foreign workers to come and cut and skin them. During corona no one could come over. A farmer near us told the locals to come and dig up all the white asparagus for free. I’ve still got kilos of frozen in my freezer. “Skinning” them is shit work though.
For many Germans like me it’s actually kind of a vacation to go help farmers harvesting asparagus
@@DrawsRene Ja dann viel Spaß 😉
I don't consider white asparagus as a luxus item but tjat may be because I grew up with it. The only problem I have is that the time you can eat it fresh is so short😢
Green asparagus are best grown in tropical countries. The fragrance is heavenly!
For Homemade plumbuses, always push your dinglebop through a grumbo so your fleeb doesn’t fill up with its own juice
I remember ordering asparagus in Switzerland and being very confused why it was white. But Spargelzeit is the best time of year
I had the same last year outside Europe. saw asparagus on the menu in a restaurant, and was really surprised it was green. It also tasted really different
Also when you make asparagus the way shown in this video never throw away the stock after boiling it. Just melt sone butter with flower and at the asparagus stock. Season to taste and voila, you have a nice asparagus soupe as a starter for your meal. Also perfect to be frozen for the time you cant get asparagus anymore :)
*flour *add *voilà *soup
@@DatsWhatHeSaid
*flounder *subtract *viola *soap
@@MrSomeDonkus 😂
4:15 THIS ANIMATED VISUAL IS AWESOME!!!
Katja is one of my favorite spots when I visit the LES!
My asparagus patch is planted from the wild varieties I collect from the roadside in the Ozarks. We love the flavor of wild green asparagus.
Asparagus grows like it's trying to prank some idiot into thinking this is how asparagus grows
I worked in top restaurants in Germany, and come spargel seasons it just mad. Love it with some butter
The ones from Navarra are mouthwatering💫
Love the Narration.
That crunch!
I randomly saw this in Whole Foods and I’m in Canada, I bought 2 packs! Soo good
Like Calçots, same growing method and has it's own festival too.
Ive never heard of white asparagus. Fascinating
I first found out about this while stationed in Northern Germany. I saw acres of it. I was wondering what that was growing under the mounds of dirt. This was backing in the early 80's.
as a german i eat asparagus (spargel) every 3 days in asparagus season. i personally like thinner asparagus way more than thick asparagus. therefor i primarly eat the green ones. but that is a personal preference.
I've only had green ones here in the states and I've always preferred skinnier ones too
For anyone here not from Germany:
Almost every region claims that their Asparagus is the best.
And yes, Germans are obsessed with ‘Spargel’.
(One of my colleagues from the UK once visited our German sites and was given Asparagus for every dinner 😂)
love white asparagus!
Here in lower Michigan we have white, purple, and green asparagus. I buy all 3 and mix for a colorful dish!
Asparagus makes me pee stink. I love it.
As an American, I had eaten plenty of green asparagus, but didn't even know that white asparagus was a thing until I spent a couple years living in northern Germany during college. I was genuinely confused the first time I saw it, thinking the Germans had somehow given the same name (Spargel) to two completely different vegetables. Since it was more expensive, I didn't even initially buy any white asparagus, since I figured the green stuff was the "real" asparagus anyways. The first time I had it was during the first Spargelzeit I experienced out there, and it was when some local friends prepared it while I was eating dinner at their place. They talked about the great local stand they always bought theirs from every year, and asked which places I had gotten my white asparagus from in that city so far. They looked genuinely horrified when I told them that I hadn't bought any yet or tried it before, since green was what I was used to and it was cheaper anyways. They had no idea before that moment that white asparagus wasn't really a thing in the US. They were then insistent that I eat it immediately right in front of them, so they could see my face. Even after the first bite, I couldn't believe what I had been missing out on all those years. I was extremely grateful to those friends afterwards, and they immediately explained how white asparagus was the same vegetable as green asparagus, and taught me how to spot the good stuff.
Even funnier, at the time I was actually living in a town in Schleswig-Holstein where they grew white asparagus and strawberries, and had biked past some of the fields that were renowned for their white asparagus many times. So after discovering what I had been missing, I splurged just once to have a meal at the farm restaurant they had their consisting of white asparagus, hollandaise sauce, potatoes, and prosciutto. That was the one time I had the absolute top-tier stuff, and while it wasn't economically feasible to make that the norm, I did at least develop a habit of buying more affordable white asparagus every Spargelzeit I was in Germany after that. It's been years since I returned to the US, and I don't think I've gotten to have it again since I've been back. I definitely miss it.
Chef is a cool guy😊
we love them in spain as well, but we don't typically buy them raw but as a food preserve
We also like those for salads as a quick fix during the sad rest of the year, however Spargel in Saison is something completely different and is the star of every dish it is in.
But I agree that the preserved stuff is also a very nice ingredient (just not the star like the fresh in season stuff)
i love how my fellow german just goes absolutely nuts over his spargel lol
When I moved to Germany I still can'tget my head around the craze for Spargel
dude, germans get high when they grow vegetables I swear, or when they drink fermented vegetables its probably like alcohol to them.
I tasted them for first time in Karlskron, Bavaria. Delicious.
I never knew someone could like a vegetable so much.
first German video here and its asparagus haha...so typical. cant wait for the Beer one :P
7:43 No way the Narrator got through that in 1 take without collapsing in giggles ;)
Looks delicious
Never would've thought to see my homeland on Insider Business.
And now imagine eating wild asparagus!! 🤯 Mind blowing. But I doubt many people even in Portugal have ever tried outside Alentejo and not inside of Asparagus Migas
I have wild asparagus in my garden...always realy tasty^^
I grew up in one of the most famous Asparagus - regions. Most kids learned how to harvest Asparagus before learning how to swim or ride a bike.
Curiously, In Spain we eat them all year around canned or preserved, is not common to find them fresh on season (Although is not rare either, they are just not everywhere)
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm white asparagus....LUV it!!!
I love asparagus but they are quite hard to grow in my country
I love here in Germany when its asparagus season yummmmmmm
Where I live asparagus just grows everywhere. It's so omnipresent I couldn't imagine that's something so expensive overseas 😂
I'm a German living in australia for a year and I miss eating spargel so much
Curious as to the nutritional values of white asparagus compared to green asparagus.
Probably less, it will have more sugar content but less vitamins.
On the west coast in Oregon, U.S. I see them at all my local grocery stores. I had no idea it was considered rare.
The long and thick white asparagus are the best.
I love any asparagus
White asparagus and lovage greens :D
Never seen somebody love asparagus as much as this man. Never seen somebody love asparagus as much as this man.
Come to Germany during Spargelzeit (asparagus season) and you will witness an entire country going just as mad as him over our "kingly vegetable"
25 bucks per pound? Here in The Netherlands, we get them for like 5 bucks...
Yep. In america doen ze graag stoer met hoe duur iets is... raar volk.
Ja en we betalen 3 euro voor een mango die je in Afrika zo van de boom plukt langs de kant van de weg……..oh en laat me for weten waar je in het begin van het seizoen voor 5 euro per pond degelijke kwaliteit kunt vinden
I see this pretty commonly in Colorado usa at the fancier grocery stores
i like it
Interesting. I wonder if its possible to grow it with indoor aeroponic systems. Different color LED can make it grow without triggering the chlorophyll production.
Is it possible? Probably.
Does it make sense? Heck no.
It's the same reason why you don't grow potatoes indoor.
I waited to hear how the narrator will pronounce the special asparagus knife 😁 🤣 😂 6:12
FUNNY! Why is this movie coming out way AFTER closure of the white asparagus season? The info is interesting, but timing imho is funny to say the least! For te record, official closure of the season for white asparagus is "Saint John's Day" or the day of "St Jan" in Dutch, which is on June 24th.
In Europe, it is literally the reverse. The white asparagus is very commonly to get by, especially in Germany. The green one however, is considered more of a delicacy, it also cost more.
I just found out that there's white asparagus.
We grow it in Australia in koo wee rup. Have done for 30 years
Empire, Michigan, USA has an annual asparagus festival. May is usually Asparagus season in Michigan.
I’ve seen white and I think purple? But green is the ‘normal’ kind here.
I have clay soil and therefore every year when digging I add sand. I have a huge pile of sand on the site that I cover with a tarpaulin most of the time and at some point I just started putting white asparagus seeds there. They grow absolutely without my help. I have not only clay, but also a lowland - always high humidity (I really have a stream in a pipe a meter from the surface, it partially exits at the other end of the site and it is always wet everywhere.). That's the result - every year and a couple of bags of seeds, I get about a kilogram of the plant. I distribute it all to friends and acquaintances - it is not grown in my country and for many it is the only opportunity to try it. (Although I certainly don't understand all this, I am a very simple person, I like broccoli and cauliflower more. For their sake, I keep all this sand- they don't like my soil suitable for making bricks. :D
erwin, bester mann haha
I remember getting some free. I preferred the green one.
9:10 Nothing says professional chef like habitually wiping your nose with your hand.
Well I love green asparagus, how does white compare flavor wise? Is it stronger or more mild in flavor?
You also mound the soil when you grow leeks to get more of that white edible part.
I’ve seen these at Wegman’s grocery store, maybe not as thick, the girth wise, but definitely white asparagus
Medium thickness is best anyway. The very thick ones still have a nice texture but are often less aromatic.
My husband and I were listening to this Chef talk and how he acts and moves - and both of us looked at each other and said - this guy is an Austrian. He sounds like from Styria or Carinthia.
We looked him up.
He is from Graz!! :D
Now I understand why there are so many seasonal workers from Eastern Europe in Asparagus season.
In the Netherlands, we eat this one at the end of spring.
wow , Beautiful ❤
It is a great meal though, it is populair here in The Netherlands. Great with egg and ham and some patatoes. Can olso make soup with it.
Every time I see asparagus. It reminds me of a scene in Austin Powers where he eats them while sneaking in Dr. Evil's underground layer in Gold member.
In Spain they're harvested at night to avoid any type of sunlight
My mother always makes them with sliced shoulder ham and a couple of eggs.
Why can’t white asparagus be grown outside of Europe?
It can, it just needs the right conditions, and specific knowledge, and it's labor intensive.
The same reason why there aren´t many Orange plantations in Germany, the conditions are perfect in Germnay whereas elsewhere you need to crete the conditions artificially and that would increase price or lower quality and the Product wouldn´t be able to compete.
It's grown in many places. Peru, USA, China...
@@TBasianeyes White asparagus in China? I've never seen that. Green ones, yes, but no white asparagus.
@@pjacobsen1000green asparagus is white asparagus that has seen some sunshine. It stays white thanks to the dirt mounts and needs to be harvested before seeing sun light. That's the only difference.
I enjoyed a side of white asparagus in Germany years ago. Its effin delicious!!!!❤
I can't believe that the same product, in which they use a different harvesting method, which does not cost anything to change. Yet they jack up the price 3x
It's funny seeing those blue cases, typical to european fruit/vegatable auctions ending up in new york.
Green asparagus is already expensive here like it will cost you 2.5 usd for about 6-8 stalks lol. It’s an occasional treat and so good fried with bacon or eaten as barbecued asparagus wrapped in bacon.
I'm waiting to look at black asparagus
0:17 Brooooo XD
That ain't looking right chief XD XD XD
i didnt know what it took to turn asparagus white, but i definetly knew how to turn vaporeon white
If it can't perform photosynthesis for energy, isn't it less nutritious than green asparagus?
Make a video on betel nut
One thing I would like to ask the farmer is there a way to neither install a roof of solar panel or just on top of the crop in making electricity instead of using mud to block the sun?
In Romanian we call asparagus sparanghel,very similar to the German sparghel!