ASPARAGUS

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 254, 10 July 1926, Page 17

ASPARAGUS

MAKING THE MOST OF IT. General favourite as it.is, few people realise the great remedial powers of asparagus. It is chief of the vegetables as a purifier of the blood and cleanser of the system, and is, in fact, a general “spring:cleaner’’ of the body*. One of the most beneficial methods of taking asparagus is to eat the young, tender tips uncooked and with an accompaniment of specially prepared mint sauce. In fact, to have the best effect from a health point of view, asparagus should always be eaten with an accompaniment of mint. It is not generally known, even amongst those who have studied the “food question” in various degrees, that every vegetable has its own special affinity in a herb, and the use of the two together has particular potency. Asparagus and mint form a scientific food combination of peculiar value. The mint accompaniment can be in the form of mint sauce, but as such should be made with lemon juice instead of vinegar. There are, of course, many ways in which asparagus may be served, but plainly boiled or stewed the flavour is developed to the full. Quite one of the nicest ways of cooking asparagus is to plunge it into boiling salted water and cook for fifteen minutes, after which it should be placed in a casserole and covered with hot water in which mint has been stewing. The casserole should be covered and placed in a hot oven until the asparagus is quite tender. It should then be served with clarified butter and lemon mint sauce. Asparagus is of particular value when it is “in season,” and a plentiful supply should be arranged for. on the family menu for the all too brief time that it is on the market. For the rest of the year we have to rely upon the preserved supplies of other countries, all of which are good, but natural cultivation in one’s native land gives the best results lor the individual. When asparagus has been cooked in water, this liquor should be kept; it makes an excellent drink with a little chopped mint added, or it can be. used as a foundation for soups and sauces. It contains precious vegetable salts which should be used for cleansing the blood and refreshing the system.