Hunting For Wild Asparagus

Today was a first for my Dad and I.

The Italian family who we are staying with while our house is renovated kindly invited us to experience a very useful and also fun seasonal local custom...hunting for wild asparagus!!

Spring time in Italy is a great time for heading out to the wilderness to gather a bunch or two of fresh wild asparagus spears.

The best places to search are off the beaten path, rocky, well drained slopes with plenty of trees to provide a good amount of shade from the midday sun. Shade is a must for this plant.

Asparagus hunting in Abruzzo can be somewhat of an extreme sport for us inexperienced foreigners. The local abruzzese people, however make it look like a pleasant stroll in the park as they scramble with ease up and down the rocky densely brushed slopes navigating fallen trees and the veritable snare of bramble vines underfoot.

From the outset I could see that asparagus hunting definitely requires and experienced eye but Stefano and Joele patiently explained to us that you have to first look for the parent plant and once you find this the young spears shouldn't be too far away.

With asparagus hunting it is definitely a case of once you finally find your first one or two spears suddenly you start to see them everywhere you look!

In no time at all the four of us had gathered two sizeable bunches of lovely fresh spears from the hillside.

It is very important if you are going off of the path in this area to have an experienced person with you. This is important for two reasons. Firstly they know where all the best spots are in the forest and can always find their way back to the car again after (seemingly no matter how far you walk!!) secondly and by far the most important reason is that the forests here are all teeming with wild boar.

Whilst seeing the boar foraging in their natural habitat from a distance is an amazing experience, when it comes to up close and personal, boars can have a vicious streak a mile wide. This along with sharp tusks, speed and strength are not a good mix to test your wits against...especially unarmed! There are serious injuries and even fatalities from boar attacks every year and whilst this is mostly hunters, it is probably wise to steer clear and local knowledge of where they might frequent and how old their tracks are is a very valuable tool indeed.

When we returned home Joele cooked for us two simple but very tasty Abruzzese recipes. The first was Asparagus Frittata made with freshly collected eggs from our own chickens and only a few additional ingredients so as to make the most of the delicate flavour of the asparagus.

Ingredients (To serve 3 people)

1 Tbs Garlic Steeped Olive Oil

5 Fresh medium sized eggs

A Handful of 1cm Pieces Of Freshly Picked Asparagus

Salt To Taste

Method

First cook the asparagus with a little of the oil. Mix with the 5 fresh eggs and beat together. Add the remainder of the oil to the frying pan and pour the egg and asparagus mix on top. Cover and allow to cook on a gentle heat for around 7-8 minutes and then turn to finish before serving with a nice fresh salad.

The second recipe was a pasta dish which was delicious (as all Italian food tends to be!!)

Ingredients (Serves 3 People)

A Handful Of 1cm Length Diced Asparagus

Garlic Steeped Olive Oil 1 Tbs

Salt

1/3 Of A Cup Of Water

1 Cup Of Cream

450g Of Short Pasta (Such as Penne)

Method

First coat the asparagus in a little of the olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Cook on a gentle heat for 2-3 minutes and then add the water and the rest of the olive oil. Cook for a further 7-8 minutes until nice and tender and add more salt if required. Turn off the heat and then add to this mixture the cream and mix well. Add the cooked pasta to the pan with the asparagus and cream. Mix well and serve hot.

A wonderful day was had by all (as you can clearly see from the proud beaming smile on my dads face as he shows off his prize!!) and I very much look forward to repeating the experience next spring!!

#Recipe #Food #Wild #Homestead