The season has started, though the weather has not helped the producers. Odd bits of gras
1 grown in the Vale of Evesham or thereabouts have appeared in the supermarkets, almost hidden amongst the stuff from Peru.
So yesterday I rode towards Evesham & gathered a couple of rounds from one of the roadside 'shops' that I use. They were about twice the price of the supermarket asparagus.
Last night our meal started with asparagus, steamed to perfection, with a simple vinaigrette sauce. The flavour was certainly more than twice as good as the stuff in the supermarkets.
Tonight we had the second round, again steamed to perfection. It tasted only marginally better than the supermarkets' produce.
I feel a need to do more research as the season progresses
.
1 gras is a dodgy spelling. OED reckons grass derives from sparrow-grass, a corrupt form of asparagus. But the 'Round of Gras' is a very fine pub, even if they weren't open yesterday.