The Food of Kings
Asparagus is the sort of thing that one can learn to take for granted. Oh, the green spears are at the dinner table once again, what a bore. But wouldn’t you be surprised to see a plate of purple one evening? Or perhaps white? Yes, asparagus comes in three different colors. Let’s explore some other interesting things about this vegetable that we’ve never cared to investigate.
Humans started cultivating asparagus for its tender, edible shoots about 2,000 years ago in the Mediterranean, its native land. The ancient Greeks were fond of the wild stuff, but it was the Romans who were the first to cultivate asparagus. The word asparagus comes from the the Greek word for “sprout” or “shoot”, which makes a lot of sense when you look at the image below. Asparagus got popular in France and England in the 1700s and was brought by settlers to the Americas. It is sometimes referred to as the “Food of Kings” since King Louis XIV, Emperor Augustus, and Julius Caesar all took a particular liking to these little veggie spears. Certain Roman emperors even maintained special asparagus fleets, groups of ships used for the express purpose of fetching asparagus. That’s dedication.
Green asparagus is the original model that we all know (and love?), but you can also find this vegetable in purple and white. The classic green coloration comes from photosynthetic pigments that develop as the shoot emerges from the soil. To get white asparagus, all you have to do is grow it without any exposure to sunlight. Without any sun, the plant will not spend any energy making photosynthetic pigment, leaving it with snowy white tissue. This is easier said than done though. White asparagus usually costs about twice as much as green because the growing and harvesting processes are more particular and labor intensive. In the past, farmers would put an extra layer of soil above top of the crown (the soil level where the seeds are planted) so the asparagus would grow without ever seeing the light of day. This makes for tricky harvesting because you don’t actually know where the spears are and many are either lost entirely, or stepped and rendered unsalable.
All asparagus start out white, turn pinkish upon emerging from the soil, and green after a bit more time, but purple usually isn’t part of that process. The purple spears are actually a different variety from the white and green. This particular variety gets it’s coloration from high levels of anthocyanin, a potent type of antioxidant. These guys usually have thicker spears and a strangely fruity flavor.
A bit of history and horticulture. Delicious.
Source
“Types of Asparagus.” Types of Asparagus. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 July 2016. <http://www.asparagus.com.au/index.php/about_asparagus/typesofasparagus/>.
