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Posted by selene33 (U14271316) on Monday, 12th July 2010
This is the first year we have grown them on the allotment. They are very pretty, easy to grow & pest free, but they taste of nothing! It says on the seed pack & gardening books they have the flavour of asparagus & are a gourmet vegetable.Anyone else growing them? Do yours taste? Any suggestions for cooking/using them?
Never grown them myself. I was thinking about growing them next year, but if they are going to be pretty much tasteless i might swerve them. I believe you keep the pods whole, you can of course boil or steam them. I would probably use them in stir-frys, along those lines so you keep the al dente crispness
Hi,
I've grown them for the first time this year, too, for much the same reasons - & I think they're horrid!
They're supposed to be a salad vegetable, I think, but I've tried them raw & I've tried them sauted with other veg & their outside tastes of nothing, whilst their inside dries my tongue & reminds me of the white gunge that comes out of old okra!
Not a veg I'll be growing next year, but, like you, I'd be interested in any suggestions on how to cook them so they're actually nice - or, at least, not horrid!
I grew them once, never again!!
You're right about them sort of drying your mouth a bit like persimmon does. It's a shame because they really are a pretty addition to our plot. Who thought they bore any resemblance to asparagus must need their head looking at!
Grew them once and never again. Pretty to look at and probably better in the flower border. There is more taste in a piece of cardboard.
You are better putting them straight onto the compost heap than trying to eat them. I can't think of any other use for them.
Hi all,
Well, I've just done a quick google & it's interesting - they fall into 2 camps:
* gardening companies trying to sell the seeds who say to eat them raw in salads or saute them in butter to get an asparagus taste;
* & gardeners who've actually grown & tried them, who agree they're disgusting raw & nothing special sauted in butter.
It does seem to be important not to cut into them before eating & to pick them when they're not more than an inch long.
Then there are the recipes called Asparagus Pea [something] ..., which are actually recipes with asparagus AND peas in them, but not what we're talking about!
So maybe I'll bite the bullet & try a few, uncut & sauted in butter tomorrow, & report back.
I can only echo what others have said-grow them once if curious but I will not grow them again.
I agree nothing like asparagus but I read elsewhere that they are used in asian dishes under name "winged peas" or "winged beans" - try searching for recipes under that - there are lots to try - at least to get you through this years crop before using surplus seeds next year to grow as a flowering border plant!
Just had them sautéed in garlic butter, Guernsey butter (on offer in Waitrose this week) & home grown garlic. Edible! Thanks for the suggestions & I will look up "winged peas" with interest.
Good butter and garlic could just about make anything edible.
Next year the space could be growing mange tout.
A far better thing I do
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