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Greek Dishes with Asparagus?

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d_kakavouli

d_kakavouli

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Does anyone know if Greeks cook with asparagus? All my traditional Greek family recipes use vegetables like tomatoes, green beans, eggplant, zucchini, artichokes, okra... I have nothing that involves asparagus! Is this because Greeks really don't use it, or is there another reason?

Now that they are coming to be in season where I live, I want to start experimenting. I just roasted some and finished it with ladolemono. It was delicious. What else can I do with them?
 
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d_kakavouli said:
Does anyone know if Greeks cook with asparagus? All my traditional Greek family recipes use vegetables like tomatoes, green beans, eggplant, zucchini, artichokes, okra... I have nothing that involves asparagus! Is this because Greeks really don't use it, or is there another reason?

Now that they are coming to be in season where I live, I want to start experimenting. I just roasted some and finished it with ladolemono. It was delicious. What else can I do with them?
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A while back my husband made a puff pastry tart with asparagus, minted pea purée and red onions. It was absolutely delicious and I suppose filo could be used for a more Greek experience.
 
d_kakavouli said:
Does anyone know if Greeks cook with asparagus? All my traditional Greek family recipes use vegetables like tomatoes, green beans, eggplant, zucchini, artichokes, okra... I have nothing that involves asparagus! Is this because Greeks really don't use it, or is there another reason?

Now that they are coming to be in season where I live, I want to start experimenting. I just roasted some and finished it with ladolemono. It was delicious. What else can I do with them?
Click to expand...
Asparagus is not so mainstream in Greece. That dosent mean that they don’t use asparagus in dishes. Until recently asparagus was foraged. Greece didn’t have asparagus cultivated on its land, I remember my Papou would go out in the fields and come back with various xorta plus Asparagus. They were very thin and not hefty like the ones we are accustomed to in the United States. My grandmother would usually make them into an asparagus omelet. Now a days, you can find asparagus in the supermarkets, but they tend to be very expensive. Cultivating them is still not so main stream. There are very few cultivators usually in the northern part of Greece.
 
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PemiKanavos said:
Asparagus is not so mainstream in Greece. That dosent mean that they don’t use asparagus in dishes. Until recently asparagus was foraged. Greece didn’t have asparagus cultivated on its land, I remember my Papou would go out in the fields and come back with various xorta plus Asparagus. They were very thin and not hefty like the ones we are accustomed to in the United States. My grandmother would usually make them into an asparagus omelet. Now a days, you can find asparagus in the supermarkets, but they tend to be very expensive. Cultivating them is still not so main stream. There are very few cultivators usually in the northern part of Greece.
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This is interesting - I suspected it wasn't common but wanted to check. I remember hearing about foraging and finding asparagus. Do you know if it is native or if it escaped from gardens? If it's available in Greece now it probably came from elsewhere, like Germany?
 
I have never seen it at all in Greece, but I always wondered if it was because I hadn't been in Greece when it was in season!
 
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