Receta White Asparagus with Sauce Gribiche
Lyon, one beautiful city
Three years ago,
my friend Kimberly moved to Europe from Montclair, New Jersey. Her husband had been
assigned by his American company to run their European division which has its
headquarters in the third largest city in France: Lyon. Kimberly, Peter and their two sons quickly
settled into the life of the Ex-pat community there. It’s a large one because Lyon, a city of
500,000, or 1.2 million if you count the ‘metropolitan area’, is a scientific and
manufacturing center, the second largest in France. Kimberly and I share a twenty-year
history. Much of that time, we traveled
together for our jobs in Advertising.
And much of that time, we consumed some very memorable meals. So when an
assignment took me to Lyon, I knew Kimberly’s restaurant list would be as good
as gold. And even if Kimberly was out of town for the weekend, I'd have plenty of options to choose from before she got back.
Paul Bocuse, Legendary Lyonais Chef
I’d been
traveling with 3 other travel journalists and our Public Relations ‘handler’,
four women and me, and we’d had a truly wonderful trip. When it was all ending in Lyon, we decided to
head out to one last meal. On Kimberly’s
list there was a lone “Bouchon”. A ‘Bouchon’ is a traditional Lyonnaise
restaurant serving local specialities. Lyon
is the home of one of the fathers of ‘Nouvelle Cuisine’, Paul Bocuse. He is venerated here for his introduction of
lighter cuisine emphasizing fresh ingredients of the highest quality. They even named their central Food Market,
Les Halles de Lyon, for him. But the
Bouchons apparently ignored any lesson Bocuse tried to teach them. In general, Bouchons specialize in massive
amounts of sausage, pates, roast pork, foie gras-- all quite fatty and centered
largely around meat. Having determined
that there were actually a couple of items that our group vegetarian could eat,
we ventured off to Bouchon Sully (20 Rue Sully, 6ieme Arr. Lyon www.lebouchonsully.com). And we were awfully glad we did. I could go on
about our three course 22 Euro Prix Fixe and a wine list that included excellent bottles
that were only twice the cost of wine by the glass in New York. Instead I’ll
stop at the show-stopper: The ‘specialité de la maison’ that particular
week: Asperges Blanc aux Sauce
Gribiche. There was also a slice of ham
gilding this particular lily but it seemed somehow superfluous to this ravishing
dish. I should point out that I’ve been
away most of May and believe me, I’d seen plenty of white asparagus. In Germany, its fields were pointed out many
times which makes sense since Germans are mad for white asparagus. It’s the largest cultivated crop of any
vegetable grown there. Called “Spargel” in German, it first appears in
mid-April and the feast continues all the way through June 24th,
when the spring-time vegetable disappears.
In the States, it seems slightly season-less. It’s certainly in markets
like Whole Foods almost all the time, likely due to exports from Peru which run
counter seasonal in the first place. I didn’t actually see White
Asparagus being grown. No greenery is allowed to show above the surface. It
grows entirely underground and earth is mounded around the plants. It’s harvested with a tool that looks like a
carpenter’s gouge. The asparagus pickers
run this tool into the earth, probing for the asparagus stock then cutting it
off cleanly at the bottom of the stalk.
The object is to keep the entire stalk white and tender. L.to R. Susan Kime, Emma Yardley, Lindsay Day, Ryan Smith
At Bouchon Sully, the
tender stalks were enhanced with a lovely sauce. Gribiche is similar to an
aioli but more tart. It’s filled
with shallots, hard-cooked egg, salty capers and crisp cornichon pickles. It’s a wonderful complement to the sweet
tenderness of the asparagus. Since I
started researching this recipe, I’ve read that Sauce Gribiche can happily
enhance meat, fish—“even potatoes”. And
of course, it can be used on green asparagus too. Some versions called for using commercial mayonnaise
but for sure that wasn’t the case in Lyon.
This recipe is surprisingly easy to make. The prep time is all of 15 minutes including
the essential peeling of the white asparagus. I’ve given it to you as written. But I confess that I had none of the
cornucopia of fresh herbs in the recipe.
I stuck with parsley alone. And
later, I read a Frenchwoman suggest doing using exactly that and nothing
more. Suit yourself. By the way, Kimberly and I returned to
Bouchon Sully for lunch three days later.
We had the Asparagus…again.
Recipe
for White Asparagus with Sauce Gribiche adapted from Bouchon Sully in Lyon,
France (Asperges Blancs aux Sauce Gribiche) Prep time: 15 minutes. Total Time 30 mins ( 25 to cook
the Asparagus) Serves 2. 12 White asparagus spears, trimmed and peeled from just under the bud to
the end of the stem. 1 large hard-boiled egg, peeled and separated
1 Egg yolk 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 ½ tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Fleur de sel Fresh ground black pepper 1/2 cup Canola oil 2 tablespoons capers, minced 2 tablespoons cornichons minced 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced 1 tablespoon fresh chervil, minced 1 tablespoon fresh chives, minced 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, minced 12 sprigs parsley or 12 sprigs chervil, for garnish (optional)
Directions
1. Bring a large sauté pan of heavily salted water to a boil; prepare an
ice water bath.
Cook asparagus until crisp-tender, about 20 to 25 minutes depending on
size; plunge into water bath, then pat dry with paper towels.
2. Coarsely chop the egg whites and set aside; push the yolks through a
sieve into a medium sized bowl.
3. Whisk mustard and vinegar into the egg yolk; season with salt and
pepper.
Slowly whisk in oil until emulsified and thickened. Fold in capers, cornichons, herbs, egg whites, and egg yolk; taste and
season again with salt and pepper, if needed.
The ham seems entirely superfluous
4. Arrange asparagus on a serving platter, or individual plates; top with
several dollops of the sauce and garnish with parsley or chervil sprigs.