Asparagus in White Sauce

I haven’t had asparagus in my childhood, there was shortage of food in a hard times of communism and we usually had a simple food. Nowadays asparagus is common on Polish tables, but I was convinced it was a piece of modern Polish cuisine. What a surprise it was when I found a recipe for Polish style asparagus originated in XVIII century! Here is a source. I made asparagus in white sauce in a comparable way that it was in that old recipe, ingredients for sauce are the same, but I slightly changed the way of preparation.

asparagus in white sauce served on the plate

Ingredients

1 lb white asparagus (500 g)
2 egg yolks
2 heaping tablespoons butter
about 2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt, white pepper

Clean, peel asparagus and trim tough ends off. Place asparagus in a boiling water, salted and slightly sweetened with sugar. Boil till tender, it will take 6-9 minutes, depending on the size and how tough asparagus is.

In a meantime prepare the sauce. Dissolve butter in a small sauce pan. Place 2 egg yolks in a bowl. Whisk them with lemon, salt and pepper till it’s fluffy and gets brighten. Now you need to add butter.

Butter needs to be really hot. Remove the foam off the butter and start slowly pouring it into the egg yolks mixture, whisking constantly.

Place asparagus on a plate, pour the sauce over it. Serve straight away.

Smacznego! Enjoy!

You may also like other Polish Spring food recipes: Spring food.

This is the recipe I found on Old Polish Cuisine fan page. I can recommend it to you if you are interested in scientific approach to Polish food and culture. And if you can read in Polish:)