The shoots can be prepared and served in a number of ways, but are usually boiled or steamed and served with hollandaise sauce, melted butter or olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Tall asparagus cooking pots allow the shoots to be steamed gently. Cantonese restaurants in the United States often serve asparagus stir-fried with chicken, shrimp, or beef, also wrapped in bacon. Asparagus may also be quickly grilled over charcoal or hardwood embers. The best asparagus tends to be early growth (first of the season) and is normally simply steamed and served with melted butter.
The first pickings or 'thinnings' are known as sprue asparagus. Sprue have thin stems.
The bottom portion of asparagus often contains sand, and as such proper preparation is generally advised in cooking asparagus.
Medicinal uses and properties
Asparagus rhizomes and roots are used ethnomedically to treat urinary tract infections, as well as kidney and bladder stones.
Asparagus is low in calories, contains no fat or cholesterol, and is very low in sodium. It is good source of folic acid, potassium, fiber, and rutin. The amino acid asparagine gets its name from asparagus, the asparagus plant being rich in this compound.
Some of the constituents of asparagus are metabolised and excreted in the urine, giving it a distinctive, pungent odor. The odor is due to various sulfur-containing degradation products (e.g. amonia, thiols and thioesters). It is only detectable by the noses of some people.Recent studies suggest that every individual produces the odorous compounds, but that only about 40% of individuals have the genes required to smell the odor. The speed of onset of urine smell is rapid, and has been estimated to occur within 15-30 minutes from ingestion.
A case of botulism borne on asparagus was recorded in Australia in 1991.
Vernacular names and etymology
Asparagus officinalis is widely known simply as "asparagus", and may be confused with unrelated plant species also known as "asparagus", such as Ornithogalum pyrenaicum known as "Prussian asparagus" for its edible shoots.
The English word "asparagus" derives from classical Latin, but the plant was once known in English as sperage, from the Medieval Latin sparagus. This term itself derives from the Greek aspharagos or asparagos, and the Greek term originates from the Persian asparag, meaning "sprout" or "shoot."
Asparagus was also corrupted in some places to "sparrow grass"; indeed, John Walker stated in 1791 that "Sparrow-grass is so general that asparagus has an air of stiffness and pedantry." Another known colloquial variation of the term, most common in parts of Texas, is "aspar grass" or "asper grass." Asparagus is commonly known in fruit retail circles as "Sparrows Guts," etymologically distinct from the old term "sparrow grass," thus showing convergent language evolution.
It is known in French as asperge, in Portuguese as espargo hortense, and in German Spargel.
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