Vegetable entremets of the first service
Asparagus with oil and vinegar
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Beautiful warm asparagus, firm, coated with a simple liaison of oil, vinegar, salt, and a little pepper: the elegant sobriety of a man who made moderation an art of living.
Vegetable entremets of the first service
Beautiful warm asparagus, firm, coated with a simple liaison of oil, vinegar, salt, and a little pepper: the elegant sobriety of a man who made moderation an art of living.
You see, I have always held that great quarrels lodge in small things: one disputes about worlds, and one also disputes about asparagus. For me, no hesitation — oil, vinegar, a grain of salt, and leave me to my pleasure. I want them picked in the morning, barely tenderized in boiling water, still crunchy under the tooth, for an overcooked asparagus is like an overworked mind: it loses all composure. Eat little, but eat well: that is my whole secret, and it has carried me far.
Ingredients
- •Fresh asparagus (preferably purple) — a beautiful bunch (star vegetable)
- •Fine olive oil — as needed (body of the sauce)
- •Wine vinegar — a dash (acidity)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
- •Pepper — a pinch (discrete lift)
How it was made : In the 17th and 18th centuries, asparagus was a prized vegetable on refined tables, cultivated in royal and bourgeois kitchen gardens. It was served warm, either with melted butter or “in oil” like a salad — hence the famous taste dispute among diners. La Varenne already gives preparations for it in *Le Cuisinier françois* (1651).
Sources : François Pierre de La Varenne, Le Cuisinier françois, 1651 · Anecdote reported in the tradition of 18th-century memorialists (popularized account, literary value)