It's white asparagus season in Germany, so I made sure to grab some here at Rogacki in Berlin today (145 Wilmersdorfer Strasse, 343-825-0). I'm still not sure if I understand what the big deal is about these things though. Sure, it was a bit more tender and sweeter than the usual green asparagus, but they lacked that signature asparagus taste that I love so much (in fact, a few of these stems were a bit bitter toward the base). My super-thick butter-topped serving today came with a side of potatoes, which filled me right up, all without necessarily putting a smile on my face. And yes, these things still gave me asparagus pee.
I was also a bit puzzled as to why Bourdain loved this place so much in that Berlin episode. Sure, it was a visually cool deli - there were so many counters around that I practically got lost trying to figure it out (no one spoke English, so I had to rely on my broken high school German and some finger pointing and nodding). But the food just wasn't a huge hit with me. I tried some of that headcheese stuff and it tasted like it looked: small cuts of meat all held together by a clear gelatin. Maybe I needed to try more things here - there was definitely no shortage of selection.
3 comments:
White asparagus is just regular asparagus that is picked before it gets light, and thus doesn't turn green. So maybe what you like is the taste of chlorophyll?
What's asparagus pee?
One simply does not go to Rogacki if you want to eat asparagus. They steam them hours in advance which kills all the delicate flavor. And wee1, you are mistaken, white asparagus is NOT just "regular asparagus". Yes, they are the same species, but they are NOT the same breed. This is like saying a german shepard and a pekinese are the same. Just look at the picture - white asparagus is way bigger and the taste is much different too.
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