A short history of asparagus in Romanians (P)

puntil recently, we thought that asparagus was a recent invention of the secret gastronomic services. This fabulous vegetable entered my life only after I passed 20 and arrived in Germany. Later, the shape and color "passed the glass" and, straight from the TV culinary shows, asparagus became a constant in markets, markets and especially restaurants. I like it a lot, if it's cooked right: crunchy texture, robust, grassy, chlorophyllous taste. Last time I got mine directly from the warehouse TeamFresh HoReCa, that I had gone to drink coffee with Dina 😀

The idea is that, while my brother (six years older) left me in charge of the market (I was really good at it, according to my mother), that is, in the late 90s, I never saw/guessed/thought about such a thing. At our house, the miracle was not seen either fresh or canned.

Its history in brief is simple: it is mentioned among the Egyptians about 5000 years ago, it also appears in Syria, Spain, among the Greeks and Romans, and among the northern European populations, then it conquers the France of Louis XIV, the who also builds a greenhouse to enjoy the vegetable all year round. One of the oldest recipes with asparagus appears in Apicius: "Dry the asparagus shoots, then immerse them again in warm water: they will become stronger. (This is not the white asparagus we use today, but the green, often wild, which tended to soften after a long boil. That is why a triple operation is needed: boil-cool-boil, to strengthen shoots - the explanation at the end of the book)".
It reaches us through the German channel, but I did not find it mentioned in grocers' lists as a tradable and customs-cleared commodity (as artichoke appears).

Asparagus is missing from Mihai Lupescu's "Din cucătaria Șaranului Romanian" by Mihai Lupescu, it does not appear either in "Dishes from other times, wines and old Romanian drinks", volume by Dan-Silviu Boerescu, Cătălin Păduraru and Florica Bud, nor in the first edited cookbook in Moldova: "Boieresti Cookbook" by Mihail Kogălniceanu and Kostache Negruzzi. So far everything is clear. But... asparagus soaks its stalks in sauce (white, in the overwhelming majority of cases) or soaks in soups for much longer than one might think.

Asparagus appears in two recipes from a manuscript from the Brancovena era (around 1700). It is mentioned several times in "The newest cookbook with over 600 selected recipes suitable for all classes, compiled by Romanian and foreign authors", by A. Şt. from 1921, and in "The Good Housekeeper or Cookbook" by Ecaterina Dr. S. Comşa, 9th edition. It also appears at Bacalbaşa, at Sanda Marin or at Silvia Jurcovan. Furthermore, an asparagus cultivation guide was published (3rd edition) in 1943 in the Agricultural Library of Universul newspaper. Başca, recipes with asparagus are inserted in the "Gastronomic Literary Album" (1982 and 1983) between the same covers with the recipe for eyes with parisizer but also in "Cold preparations of culinary art" (1990).

Let's see what Radu Anton Roman also says: "At a high price in other crazy pots, the above vegetables are less often cooked in Romania, being local success ("alogenous") revenues. Turnips and rhubarb are cultivated and cooked here and there in Transylvania, but without any tendency to spread (as rhubarb has also become common in other areas). Artichokes, asparagus, even okra and endives, broccoli and Brussels sprouts have remained exotic, alluvial dishes, at the discretion of the precious, strictly urban appetite of the good world" and I have no way (nor do I seek) to contradict it. But (at least in the interwar period) asparagus had gained momentum and considerably widened its range of customers. Otherwise, it cannot be explained why in 1935, in Brăila, two recipes with it were taught in the home economics school course: with meat and with white sauce. The trend continued and gained momentum, and this is proven by the asparagus cultivation guide that reached its third edition in 1943.

photo credit: © Katie Finell | Dreamstime.com, © Hlphoto | Dreamstime.com © Yap Kee Chan | Dreamstime.com

Bibliography:

• "Romanian dishes, wines and customs", Radu Anton Roman new edition, extensively revised and much added, Paidea publishing house 2001
• "From the kitchen of the Romanian peasant", Mihai Lupescu, Paidea publishing house 2001, after a manuscript from 1916
• "Dishes from another time, wines and old Romanian drinks", Dan-Silviu Boerescu, Cătălin Păduraru and Florica Bud Lifestyle [Classic] publishing house 2010 (Trei publishing group)
• "From the history of Romanian commerce, especially the grocery store - publication of unpublished documents 1593 -1855", Dumitru Z. Furnica, Ateliere grafice Socec & Co., Societate Anonimă 1908.
• "Book of noble cooks - 200 recipes for cooking, cakes and other household tasks", Mihail Kogălniceanu and Kostache Negruzzi, edition VI, Vremea publishing house 2007, after "200 recipes for cooking, cakes and other household tasks", Iasi , 1841, Catora Foii Sateşti
• "A world in a cookbook, manuscript from the Brancovena period", transcription, preface and afterword by Ioana Constantinescu, introductory study by Matei Cazacu, Romanian Cultural Foundation publishing house, 1997.
• "The newest cookbook with over 600 selected recipes suitable for all classes, prepared by Romanian and foreign authors", A. Şt. Publisher of the H. Steinberg & Son Bookstore, 1921
• "The Good Housekeeper or Cookbook, the most practical and richest of all the cookbooks written so far in Romanian", Ecaterina Dr. S. Comşa, graduate of the "Damen-Stift" Institute in Vienna, 9th edition, (year? The second edition was in 1925) publishing house Socec & Co. TO
• "Cold preparations of culinary art", Ion Radu, Maria Onu, Technical Publishing House, 1990.
• "Gastronomic Literary Almanac", edited by Viaţa Românească Magazine, 1982, 1983.
• "Cookbook", Sanda Marin, Technical publishing house 1954 (boiled asparagus, meatballs)
• "Cookbook", Sanda Marin, Orizonturi publishing house 2011 (boiled, baked, meatballs, pudding, soup)
• "Cookbook", Silvia Jurcovan, Humanitas 2012
• "Gastronomic dictatorship, 1501 dishes from 1935", Constantin Bacalbaşa, Life&Style Classic publishing house (Trei publishing house), 2010
• "De re Coqvinaria - culinary art or the kitchen in Ancient Rome", Apicius, Albatros publishing house 2003