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National Poetry Month: Eat Your Words!
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“April is the cruelest month, breeding/Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing/Memory and desire, stirring/Dull roots with spring rain.” --T.S. Eliot’s famous opening to The Waste Land.
I can imagine in our current April, walking through the drab and lifeless land, happening upon an impossibly green and hale shoot—perhaps a crocus or a daffodil—something so cheerful and fresh as to make one feel absurd for shuddering in the brisk wind; caught between remembering the flower and desiring one again.
Just like an April visit to the produce isle, bound up in end-of-season oranges and ghost-pale tomatoes, abysmal approximations of their past and future flavor in this dead time, winter stores all but gone, and summer’s bounty now fantasy.
One shouldn’t try to put words in T.S. Eliot’s mouth of course, but it’s right there in his poem (whether he had it in mind or not). The spring rain he’s sent down is stirring, among the dull roots, spears of asparagus. In England, Eliot’s adopted home, these bright green stalks are particularly prized and were once known, through folk etymology, as sparrow-grass. The more likely roots of the word are from the Greek ana meaning “up” and spargan, “to swell”. But asparagus’ place as the “queen of vegetables” dates back to its centuries-old roots in the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor. Roman emperors used to maintain special fleets whose job it was to carry back the choicest spears each spring.
As we wait in anticipation of fresh, local asparagus, here’s a recipe to ponder which pays tribute to its Asian ancestry in flavor, and its ancient Roman reputation for fast preparation: “Quick as cooking asparagus” was a common Roman saying.
If you’re holding out for your own asparagus, take heart that it’s National Poetry Month. Pick a favorite verse to sustain you while you wait.
Broiled Asparagus with Soy-Ginger Sauce
¼ c. freshly squeezed lime juice
3 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 minced scallions
1 minced garlic clove
1 Tbsp. grated ginger root
1 Tbsp. honey
1 pound asparagus, tough ends trimmed or peeled
1 Tbsp. safflower oil
Whisk together the lime juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, scallions, garlic, ginger and honey. Set aside.
Place the trimmed asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and roll the stalks to evenly coat. Broil until tender and lightly browned, about 10 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally.
Briefly whisk the sauce to recombine; drizzle over the cooked asparagus and serve warm.
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Editor’s Note: Angela Denstad Stigeler writes a food column each week for the Caledonia Argus. She, her husband and their two young children live in Caledonia.
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