Food. France. Now. -- 28 May 2003

[Bux]

Hi,

Could you pls briefly explain how you prepared the asparagus w/ lemon zest? I've been preparing mine in a somewhat boring way. What is zest btw?

Its been great reading your articles; I've just discovered the abundance of epicurial journalism on the web, this site and your stuff included and its been some stimulating reading.

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Welcome aboard. Enjoy the site. Vancouver is a great food city. I assume from your blog that you're from Vancouver.

Lemon zest is the thin outside layer of the lemon peel. It's the part with the bright yellow color. The thick white part between the zest and the juicy part is called the pith and it is to be avoided when utlizing the zest. You can grate the zeat with a very find grater or you can peel julienne strips of zest off the fruit. I'll leave it to Lou to explain how and why she uses candied zest in her recipe.

[hollywood]

So we're talking about earth apples and pine apples?

Yeah, how do you like them apples? Perhaps the workers at the new healthier McDonald's will ask, "You want apples with that?"

Edited May 30, 2003 by hollywood (log)

[Louisa Chu]

Hey speedie, thanks and welcome to eGullet. The asapargus with lemon zest. Warm your plate. Start with the oil. Peel some garlic cloves, toss them in a small pot, add the stems of some assorted herbs - parsley, basil, rosemary, etc. - cover with olive oil. Heat on a medium-high heat until it just starts to bubble and then take it off heat. Then the zest. With a vegetable peeler, peel the zest - Bux is right, the coloured part only - off a lemon. If there's a little of the pith - Bux, right again, the white part - and it's patchy here and there, that's OK. If it's a thick layer, then carefully slice it off with a knife held flat. Julienne. Blanche, drain, refresh. Make simple syrup - equal parts water and sugar, 1/2 cup each is enough, boiled. Add the zest, bring to boil, take off heat, cool, repeat about 5-6 times until the zest is supple. The asparagus. Boil a large pan of water. If your asparagus is thin and tender then just snap off the tough bottoms and remove the points on the stalk. If they're thicker then snap off the bottoms, carefully score around the stalk below the head, peel them down to the base. Trim them all to uniform length. Tie them with kitchen string. When the water boils, add salt, then the aspargus. Bring back to boil, cook as needed, refresh in ice water, then set aside to drain. Finely chop some flat-leaf parsley. Drain some lemon zest. Warm some of the perfumed olive oil, crush in some soft garlic from the oil, carefully untie and add the aspargus, warm through, test tenderness, taste and season. Add some parsley, remove to your warm plate, then sprinkle with the lemon zest as desired. Can be served warm or cool.

Pan, thanks - but it's not an episode! It's my life! The Saveurs salons are always held at the Espace Champerret - in Paris at Porte de Champerret. The next one - the big winter one - is already scheduled for 05 to 08 December. It alone is worth a visit to Paris. The Saveurs Salon d'Hiver makes the spring one look like a diet camp. As for the marinades, it's just old school French haute cuisine. Meat should taste like meat. You salt and pepper it - maybe oil and butter it - then cook it - correctly. Also any kind of tenderizer - physical or chemical - is illegal in French professional kitchens.

Bux, as to the why I used the lemon zest with the asparagus, the usual reasons - visual, flavour, and textural interest. It was inspired by an asapargus dish I had from Dallouyau - asparagus with citrus vinaigrette - which I loved but would have been too much of a contrast with my exam dish. Their vinaigrette was very light and balanced, garnished with lemon and orange and chives - which I think were the key element and not available in our market basket. I wanted to capture the jewel-like element in that dish - which I think I did.

[Bux]

Bux, as to the why I used the lemon zest with the asparagus, the usual reasons - visual, flavour, and textural interest. It was inspired by an asapargus dish I had from Dallouyau - asparagus with citrus vinaigrette - which I loved but would have been too much of a contrast with my exam dish. Their vinaigrette was very light and balanced, garnished with lemon and orange and chives - which I think were the key element and not available in our market basket. I wanted to capture the jewel-like element in that dish - which I think I did.

Lemon and asparagus is classic. I commented on the use of candied zest.

[Louisa Chu]

Bux, ah yes, why the candied zest - as opposed to just lemon or just zest? I'd thought about doing lemon but thought the sourness would take the dish too far - jar the palate too much. And I find simply blanched zest still too bitter - though I like bitter - and potentially too offensive in an otherwise inviting dish. So I went with the lemon zest confit for the initial visual attraction and then the texture and then the slightly, pleasing sweetness. Just a few julienned strips for garnish.

[Pan]

Pan, thanks - but it's not an episode! It's my life!

But what is life but a complex nonfiction story with a series of episodes?

[speedracer]

Hi all,

Bux, a belated thanks for the welcome. My home, Vancouver is a very good food city; the varieties available here are quite something and new restaurants seem to be popping up all the time. I enjoyed Worldtable very much btw (France is one of my favourite countries to travel). Thanks for the introduction to lemon zest!

Loufood. Another belated thanks for your reply. What can I say about your instructions except I have much to learn! A little bit too much, but I will try. I'm will try this lemon zest w/ asparagus. Usually I just stir fry w/ olive oil and then a dollop of honey mustard to coat and glaze the spears. Don't know if what I did is a faux pas, but hey I'm slowly learning.

BTW, does anyone know of a way to determine where to snap off the bottoms of the spears? I just hate wasting any of it.

Cheers,

Speedy

[Louisa Chu]

Speedy, your asparagus sounds really good! Where to snap - start by holding the spear at the very bottom and feeling your way up. Flex slightly. It will naturally snap where the more fibrous bottom stops and the crisper stalk starts. When I make asparagus for myself I don't bother trimming them to a uniform length.

[Bux]

What can I say about your instructions except I have much to learn! A little bit too much, but I will try.

No one ever has to much to learn, but if you're going to err in life, it's best to think you have more to learn than you really do rather then to think you know more than you do.

There are no more faux pas in cooking since the rise of nouvelle cuisine, except in the eyes of the chefs at France's classic cooking schools. I wouldn't pass judgement on your preparation without tasting it, but here at home we usually serve asparagus quite simply sauteed in butter with a little lemon juice, or more often these days in olive oil, a little garlic and lemon juice. We also serve it cold -- boiled and dressed with a vinaigrette sauce.

I think the classic way to serve asparagus -- at least that's the only way I ever saw it served in French restaurant, or read a recipe, in the 50s , 60's and maybe later -- was with hollandaise sauce. Jacques Pépin, in his memoir, The Apprentice, tells a story of the first time his very yound daughter was served asparagus at a friends house, she didn't start to eat it when everyone else did. Her friend's mother asked what was wrong and if she liked asparagus. Well of course, she was just waiting for the hollandaise.

[Louisa Chu]

Bux, it's so funny that you mention the classic pairing of asparagus and hollandaise. When we first cooked asparagus at CB I thought for sure - for sure, as the sun rises, as the Seine flows, as the tower at Montparnasse is ugly - that we'd serve it with hollandaise. No. Shocking. And I love the story about Jacques Pepin's daughter - Claudine, unless he has another daughter - I must read The Apprentice!

[Bux]

Pepin has one daughter and yes, you absolutely must read The Apprentice. It is full of expected and surprising stories.

[speedracer]

Thanks to all for your help and consideration. You must have some Canadian blood in you. Sorry, bad joke. But really, thanks for everything. I will be posting more questions on food and its selection/preparation, so you have been warned.

Looking forward to more posts by Loufood at egullet and Bux at Worldtable. Please keep up the most excellent work.

Cheers,

Speedy

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