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Bis Johanni – nicht vergessen – sieben Wochen Spargel essen!

The Asparagus season in Germany starts towards the end of April and ends on the 24th of June (St. John the Baptist Day)

Most Germans eagerly await Spargelzeit and they eat around 125 000 tonnes of asparagus each season.
It is very important to them to buy only German-grown asparagus.
Harvesting asparagus is very labour-intensive, and is mostly done by seasonal workers.

Traditionally it is served as a very simple dish, with boiled potatoes, ham and hollandaise sauce.

Varieties

White and green asparagus are the same vegetable. 

Green Asparagus

Green asparagus is grown above the ground and is exposed to sunshine

asparagus-5038264_640

White Asparagus

White asparagus is grown under mulch and dark plastic, so it gets very little sunshine and no photosynthesis.

  • Delicate and sweet flavour
  • Stalks are thicker
  • Skin tends to be tougher and needs peeling

Buying

  • Stalks should be firm to the touch.
  • Pay attention to the tips (buds). They should be firm and tightly closed.
  • Dry or yellow tips indicate that it is already old.
  • Avoid mushy tips.
  • Purple tips – The colouration happens during a short period when the tip breaks through the soil, catches some sunlight and turns purple as a result, just before it is harvested.
  • The serving size per person is around 500g

Asparagus can be bought at farmer’s markets, greengrocers, small stalls along the road or in normal grocery shops.
The small stalls along the road often sell strawberries as well, as these are also in season.

Grades

Asparagus is a delightfully succulent and nutritious vegetable that is highly in demand in Germany. This exquisite veggie is sold by the following grades in Germany.

Klassen Extra

They are the most expensive but worth the splash.

Criteria

They are very white, straight and plump and must have a diameter of at least 1.2 cm

Klasse I

Still pricy but more affordable

Criteria

Medium-sized with a diameter of at least 1 cm. They can be slightly bent and the tips may be purple.

Klasse II

They are much cheaper than the other classes

Criteria

They can curvy and the flower heads may already be open. They are most likely woody. The spears may be damaged.

Bio Spargel

“Organic” or “bio” asparagus must comply with the EU’s ecological guidelines
The green leaf (EU BIO logo) indicates that the Asparagus is produced and sold in accordance with the EU regulations.

Storing

Asparagus tastes best when cooked on the day you buy it. If you are not going to prepare them on the same day, you could store them in a shallow airtight container in the fridge.
You can also store them in the fridge by wrapping them tightly in foil or plastic wrap. They should last 3 – 5 days like that.
Others suggest storing them standing up in a glass jar with some water inside (around 2.5 cm – enough to cover the ends). Then loosely cover it with a plastic bag and store it in the refrigerator for about a week.

Preparation

When preparing white asparagus, get rid of the woody ends. You can either cut them off or break them off.
The following video explains how to prepare and cook asparagus.
Green Asparagus usually don’t need peeling.
White asparagus have thicker stalks and must be peeled. You can buy a special Asparagus peeler (Spargeschäler) to make the job easier. Here is an example of such a peeler on Amazon
Some of the bigger shops have machines that peel them for you.

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Recipes

The most classic way to eat white asparagus in Germany is with boiled potatoes, Ham and hollandaise sauce.
I love baking them wrapped in foil in the oven (see how to do it here), they taste much better that way. You can also throw them on a braai if you like. A surprising ingredient in most recipes is a bit of sugar, whether you bake them in foil or cook them in water.

Delicious recipes can be found on the Essen und Triken and Chefkoch websites. For English recipes look on Germanfoods.org and My Dinner for a classic recipe.

Asparagus Road

The 120 km long Asparagus road starts in the city of Schwetzingen. They claim to be the “Asparagus Capital of the World” and hold an annual Spargelfest.
The route then passes through Karlsruhe, Bruchsal and ends in Rastatt which has the biggest asparagus farm in Europe.
Many towns/regions crown an annual asparagus queen (Spargelköningin) who reigns over the festivities.

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German Cuisine and Recipes

Many will describe German food as hearty, heavy and unrefined. Comfort food comes to mind, as many dishes are based on starch. But I think

Mosbolletjies, recipe submitted by Yvette Antoinette von Solms

Special Federweisser Mosbolletjie Recipe from Cathy's Ouma

Ingredients

(for 3 large bread pans — you can adjust the proportions for a smaller batch if desired)

  • 3 kg cake flour
  • 3 cups sugar (I usually take 1 cup because the Federweisser is already so sweet)
  • 3 tsp salt
  • ⅓ cup aniseed
  • 250 g butter
  • 1 litre Federweisser and enough milk to make a total of 1.8 L of water

For the glaze:

  • 100 ml milk
  • ¼ cup sugar (I use about half of the sugar)
  1. Mix the flour, sugar, salt and aniseed in a deep mixing bowl.
  2. Melt the butter and add the Federweisser and lukewarm milk to it.
  3. Combine the liquids with the dry ingredients and knead well for about 30 min.
  4. Allow the dough to rise overnight in the bowl. You may want to cover it with a lid (like a plate) and keep it somewhere warm.
  5. On the next morning, knock down the dough (a fancy way of saying knead it again), and separate the dough into three equal pieces (you can weigh it to ensure that all three are the same). Preheat the oven to 180 ºC.
  6. Roll out each of the three pieces of dough and then divide each of the three pieces into 12 buns. These will bake together and rise out of the top of the bread pan.
  7. Bake for 30 min at 180 ºC and then turn down the oven to 140 ºC and bake for another 40 min. Use a skewer to check that the mosbolletjies are baked through before removing them from the oven.
  8. Turn the mosbolletjies out onto a drying rack and then glaze (as per the recipe above) the top while still warm.
  9. Allow to cool completely.
  10. Eat with butter and jam/cheese or dry in the oven for rusks (mosbeskuit; 50 ºC for 6 hours).

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Here is a collection of Traditional South African Easter Recipes.
To submit your own recipes to be published on this website, please use this form

Roast Lamb

Here is a delicious selection of mouth-watering Roast Lamb Recipes that are sure to impress your guests.

Pickled Fish

Traditional Pickled Fish recipe

For the hake:
2kg fresh hake
Flour for dusting
Oil for frying

For the sauce:
2Tbs paprika
2Tbs garam masala
1Tbs turmeric
1Tbs smoked paprika
2 fresh chilies, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 onions, chopped
100ml White spirit vinegar
3Tbs Brown sugar
Cup of water

Method

  1. Start by preparing the hake. Place a saucepan on high heat with a good coating of oil. While it heats, lightly dust the hake pieces in flour and gently shake off any excess flour. Drop the pieces into the oil and fry until golden. Remove once golden in colour and set aside.
  2. Next, prepare the sauce. Start by putting a pan over a medium heat with a dash of oil, and fry the onions, garlic, and chilli in a pan until caramelised. Add the paprika, smoked paprika, masala, and turmeric and fry for 5 minutes until fragrant. Sprinkle in the brown sugar and stir until it’s dissolved. Finally, deglaze the pan with the water and vinegar and  simmer on low heat for 25 min.
  3. After 25 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool completely. Once cool, add the fish, mix to combine, and refrigerate. It needs at least 24 hours so the fish can soak up the sauce, but you can keep it for up to two days.

Hot cross buns

Recipe tested and submitted by Gareth, one of our FB members. I tested this recipe myself and it works very well.
I placed the dough in a preheated oven (50℃) to rise, and used an glaze made with a 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water cooked for a minute, as I didn’t have any apricot jam

 

 

  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
  • ½ cup caster sugar
  • 1 ½ cups (375ml) milk, warm
  • 4 ¼ cups strong bread flower (our tester used Spelt flour, you can also see more about flour types here
  • 2 tsp cinnamon powder
  • 2 tsp allspice (Piment)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 ½ cups sultanas
  • 50g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 egg
  • Place flour, yeast, sugar, all spice, cinnamon and salt in a mixing bowl (best with an automatic mixer with dough hook).
  • Mix the dry ingredients.
  • Add butter, milk, egg and sultanas.
  • Mix until a smooth elastic dough forms (approx. 5 minutes) Add extra flour if required, just enough sot that the dough comes away from the side of the bowl when mixing.
  • Leave dough in the bowl, cover and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in size.
  • Line a 30 x 24 cm baking tray with parchment paper (Backpapier).
  • Remove the dough from the bowl and punch down.
  • On a lightly dusted work surface, shape dough into a sausage and cut into 12 equal pieces
  • Flatten each piece slightly, gather into a ball, then roll the dough briefly to form a ball.
  • Place the ball with the smooth side up on the try.
  • Repeat with remaining pieces. Line them up 3 x 4 on the baking tray
  • Cover the tray and put back in the warm place for about 30 – 45 minutes, until the dough has risen by about 75%

For the Crosses

  • Mix ½ cup flour and 5 tbsp water to a thick runny paste.
  • Spoon into a small bag and snip one corner
  • Uncover the buns and pipe crosses onto the buns
  • Bake in pre-heated oven (180℃) for 20 – 25 minutes until golden brown

For the glazing

  • Put1 tbsp smooth apricot jam and 2 tsp water in a bowl.
  • Microwave for 30 seconds and mix thoroughly
  • Remove buns from the oven onto a cooling rack and brush them with the jam mixture while they are still hot

Recipe from Taste Magazine

 Ingredients
  • 480 g flour
  • 2 x 10 g instant yeast sachets
  • 100 g brown sugar
  • 1/2 t cinnamon
  • 1/2 t nutmeg
  • Salt, a pinch
  • 1/2 t baking powder
  • 1/2 t bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 lemon, zested
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 3 T butter
  • 2 free-range eggs
  • 1 t vanilla extract
  • 135 g sultanas and raisins
  • For the flour paste:
  • 125 g flour
  • 5 T water
  • For the glaze:
  • 65 ml golden syrup
  • 65 ml boiling water
Cooking Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Combine the flour, yeast, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, lemon zest and dried fruit in a large mixing bowl.
Place the milk and butter in a saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted. Lightly whisk the eggs and vanilla together and add to the dry ingredients, along with the milk-and-butter mixture.
Gently mix the dough using your hands or a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together.
Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and knead for 10 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and place in a warm spot for 1½ hours until doubled in size.
After the dough has risen, knock it down to its original size and then roll into 12 evenly shaped buns.
Place the buns on a greased baking tray and cover with clingfilm, leaving enough room for the buns to rise. Allow the buns to rise for another 30 minutes.
To make the flour paste, mix the flour and water together to form a smooth paste, place in a sandwich bag and cut off one of the corners to make a piping bag.
Pipe a cross onto each bun and bake for 15 minutes, or until the buns are golden and cooked through.
Glaze the buns while they are still hot.

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ProductSubstitute
Hot Drinks
MiloMost African and Asian Shops stock Milo
You can also buy it at online shops.
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Instant Coffee like Frisco and RicoffyYou can buy it at SA Shops in Germany.
Also look out for Nestle Ricore Kaffee which is similar to Ricoffy. It is available on Amazon
Black / Ceylon Tee like FreshpakYou can buy Freshpak at SA Shops in Germany.
Good substitutes are brands like Tetley or PC Tips in Asian or British shops or
Teekanne Ostfriesen tea
HorlicksYou can buy online at Amazon or GreatBritishfood.de
A cheaper option is to look in Indian/Pakistani shops
Koffiehuis Pronto BagsYou can buy similar products online.
Coffeefair offers a wide variety
Rooibos TeasIn Germany you can buy Rooibos Tea in most food stores, but many are flavoured. Make sure you buy the “pur” or unflavoured one if you want traditional Rooibos tea. Health shops also sells Rooibos tea. Another thing to consider – SA teabags weigh more than the bags in Germany. Freshpak weighs 2.5 grams, and the Teekanne teabag weighs 1.75 grams. Loose tea can be bought in a Tee Laden
Cold Drinks
Roses Lime Cordial or any other Cordial/Syrup You can find it at most shops like Rewe or Edeka, else online at Amazon.
Monin also makes syrups
Nesquik Chocolate milkyou can find the chocolate variety in the shops, although people suggested that Kaba tastes like the one in SA
Stoney Ginger BeerThomas Henry Spicy Ginger
Cream SodaCream Soda is actually Vanilla flavoured. Some suggest you can use Waldmeister to flavour your sparkling water for a similar taste. You can also find it online at SA Shops in Germany
Fanta GrapeTem´s Grape Soda
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