Steamed tofu with dried shrimp
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It was cold again earlier in the week. Sauerkraut and cured-smoked pork belly.
Polish smoked sausage (actually a long one, didn't fit the pan)
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Green sauce for asparagus and bread
Sweet asparagus from my favourite local farm.
Finally, my fishmonger is able to get flat oysters for me again (couldn't since after lockdown). These taste 3 times better than Pacific oysters. So much umami on their own but even better with some lemon juice and a bottle of wine.The flat ones cost almost twice as much for the typical weekly market shoppers so they (the oysters) are usually sent straight to restaurants and for export.
This simple meal makes me a bit emotional... Thank you, farmers. Thank you, harvesters. Thank you, fishmonger.
"Nothing is worth more than this day", Goethe once wrote.
Extra photos: fresh from the field. This piece of equipment is called an "asparagus spider". It goes over a row of asparagus, holds up the cover so the worker can harvest. As you can see it's back-breaking work, each and every spear is harvested by hand. This farm is small, they hire a small team of workers from Poland (I saw maybe 5 people, the same team every year, have chatted with them a couple of times). I can't peel like this machine, so thin the peel is near transparent. Pay an extra euro and you can take a bag of the peel home for soup/essence, I always do. Categorised by quality and sizes (prices do come down as the season progresses. This year the price has gone up eur.4). Every time I try asparagus from another farm I go right back to my local farm for more.
