{"id":15503,"date":"2017-12-19T17:29:44","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T16:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?p=15503"},"modified":"2019-07-31T09:16:41","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T07:16:41","slug":"wild-asparagus-for-the-king-and-queens-80th-birthdays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?p=15503","title":{"rendered":"Wild “Asparagus” for the king and queen’s 80th birthdays?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I noticed in a recent number (3\/2017) of the Norwegian Useful Plants excellent magazine “Sopp og Nyttevekster” a picture on page 41 (picture) accompanying a recipe for “Spring risotto with wild asparagus, sorrel and peas”, but I noticed a familiar plant in the picture which I don’t think is wild aspargus (Asparagus spp.) but rather another one of the 80 plants in my book, Ornithogalum pyrenaicum (Bath asparagus, aspargette in France or Latte di gallina dei Pirenei in Italy). This plant is in the lily family….and is commonly used over its wild range which stretches from the Caucasus through the Mediterranean countries as far north as the UK, where it may have been introduced by the Romans for food near to the city of Bath.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It’s noted in the article that wild asparagus was served to the Norwegian king and queen on their 80th birthdays….but it’s unclear if the picture is of this dish?<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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This isn’t the first time this species has turned up in Norway as my friend Ove Foss\u00e5 told me a few years ago that he had found Ornithogalum pyrenaicum being sold as asparagus in a supermarket in Sandnes (Stavanger) and that he’d also noticed it\u00a0captioned\u00a0as asparagus in\u00a0 Norwegian chef Eyvind Hellstr\u00f8m’s cookbook Bageteller…thanks to Ove Foss\u00e5 for this picture:
\n\"Ornithogalum_Hellstr\u00f8ms_Bageteller\"<\/a>
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Ove also noticed it on the pizza of a cheesemaker friend\u00a0\u00a0“Lise Brunborg ( the cheesemaker who makes the great blue cheese F\u00f8nix in Stavanger). It turned out, she had it from her parents’ fridge and they had bought it at Madla Handelslag, a cooperative in Stavanger:<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
See\u00a0https:\/\/scontent-bru2-1.xx.fbcdn.net\/v\/t1.0-9\/13339542_1637168542978165_7831958122115280143_n.jpg?oh=9582cc6e3d56c44d832c448aa7f695f3&oe=5AB6F8BB<\/a>
\nBath asparagus\u00a0has a mild but different taste\u00a0but can be used like a wild asparagus!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Originally the word asparagus is derived from a word meaning simply “spring shoot”.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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