2023-05-10 10:54:00
Tasteless fellows: asparagus in a field in Schleswig-Holstein
Source: dpa
Younger consumers are reportedly rejecting white asparagus. That is only logical and good. A decades-long imbalance is being corrected. Because the green brother of the pale and tasteless vegetables is much better.
JYoung people often have strange views, but that they now show an aversion to white asparagus is a great thing. Finally progress. With the nutritional policy concept of “change through rejection”, a decade-long imbalance could be corrected, namely the permanent exaggeration of a fairly average-tasting product.
First of all, the finding: Every asparagus season, there is a lot of fuss about the vegetable, the Germans are not only excited about the arrival and delivery of the white sticks, they also associate the weal and woe of society with it. Questions about the shortage of skilled workers, migrant worker brigades, social distinction, elitism, ostentatious sex and climate change are linked to asparagus. This year a new fear of loss.
Because the sales figures are declining, and one of the reasons may be the reluctance of younger groups of buyers. The youth apparently avoid white asparagus. A survey in 2022 showed significantly greater affection among the middle-aged and especially the elderly. The total consumption has decreased slightly, from 1.7 kilograms per person to 1.5 kilograms. Also the acreage in Germany is getting smaller.
A Brandenburg asparagus farmer is currently on record: “But on the other hand, there are mainly younger people for whom eating asparagus is too time-consuming. They often think indifferently: it can be done, but it doesn’t have to be.” Asparagus is said to “tend to be luxurious” and maybe that’s why it’s on the relegation zone.
Asparagus advocates: Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir and …
Source: dpa
… the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder
Source: dpa
The cultural scientist Gunther Hirschfelder, who is well versed in nutritional matters, also agrees. The reputation as the old German superfood that you treat yourself to has been destroyed. On top of that, the classic lunch with asparagus as a side dish is discredited because people now eat differently, in portions, cut into small pieces, rather as finger food than with cutlery.
Anyone who, as an adolescent, once struggled with woody asparagus spears under the supervision of their parents and chewed in vain on annoying fibers, no longer wants to be bothered with them when they come of age. Asparagus requires sufficiently complex preparation, is difficult to eat, and overall impractical. That tends to repel young people, says Hirschfelder.
It is sweet that a certain basic laziness is brought into the field among young eaters. Apparently, the old-school compulsion to peel plays a role. Yuck, work. So asparagus also disturbs the work-life balance, any paring knives are mean tools of subjugation and should therefore be rejected.
With this vote, however, younger diners show a remarkable sense of taste. Because of course white asparagus with its expressionless limpness is a discontinued model. Asparagus lives from the reputation of bygone eras, close to toast Hawaii and tomatoes stuffed with meat salad. It is not for nothing that the sticks, made pliable in water, are combined with unhealthy calorie ballast such as melted butter, tartar sauce and hollandaise sauce: reminiscences of the deprivations of the post-war generations that have long since been overcome. The same applies to boiled ham or schnitzel as a side dish.
The benefits of green asparagus
The loss of traditional, identity-forming eating habits is generally to be regretted. When it comes to asparagus, it hits the right spot, regional product or not. The meaning of vermilion is explained exclusively by a sectarian, intoxicated worship, in the months of April to June the mind is inhibited. The crystal meth among seasonal products. Old white bars.
On the other hand, it is also true that the next generation can hardly be trusted when it comes to eating. Anyone who prefers substitute products that taste like nothing and considers regular cow’s milk to be the devil’s stuff must remain silent during serious discussions at the table. The decision against the white asparagus is probably just as much an effort to distinguish as the turn to the bland rods.
Green asparagus is extremely versatile
Source: dpa-tmn
However, through the juvenile resistance, it comes to light what has long been a constant in nutrition – the farewell to the ideal tinnef and a turn to good products. At the same time, sales of green asparagus are increasing, and younger consumers are also being blamed for this. Green asparagus is easier to handle (although at least the lower half needs to be peeled), much more versatile and can be combined in many ways. In the pan or in the oven, interesting roasted notes with a decent bite and chewing density are created immediately.
Above all, green asparagus harmonizes perfectly with the ingredients of the world-renowned oriental cuisine: olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, roasted almonds and pine nuts, sesame sauce, chili. It’s the old song about the triumph of globalized taste buds over regional tradition. Revered as a savior in middle-class circles, chef Yotam Ottolenghi popularized the rediscovery of supposedly boring vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli and beetroot. At the same time, he sent his pale brother to prison by using only green asparagus.
There he can soften in lukewarm water, sorry.
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