Sufficient: Allow about 50 heads for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable: May be had, forced, from January but cheapest in May, June, and July.
Ingredients
1/2 gallon of water
1 heaped tablespoonful of salt
asparagus
butter
toast
Directions
Scrape the white part of the stems, beginning from the head
Throw them into cold water
Tie them into bundles of about 20 each, keeping the heads all one way
Cut the stalks evenly, that they may all be the same length;
Put them into boiling water, with salt in the above proportion
Keep them boiling quickly until tender, with the saucepan uncovered
When the asparagus is done, dish it upon toast, which should be dipped in the water it was cooked in
Leave the white ends outwards each way, with the points meeting in the middle
Serve with a tureen of melted butter
Asparagus should be dressed as soon as possible after it is cut, although it may be kept for a day or two by putting the stalks into cold water; yet, to be good, like every other vegetable, it cannot be cooked too fresh. Source: The Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton (1859)
Asparagus Pudding
