Sparrowgrass postscript

Yum, yum!

Sparrowgrass!

I discovered the pleasures of asparagus* some eight years ago, when I was on holiday in Dresden. I'd never really thought much about asparagus before, and certainly hadn't registered its coming into season as a noteworthy cultural event. But everywhere I went in Dresden, restaurants were advertising special 'Spargel' menus to take advantage of the new crop. (I even had to look up 'Spargel' in my German dictionary.)

Now I am a confirmed asparagus eater, and look forward to its arrival in the greengrocer's every year. I bought my first asparagus of the season last weekend, but ate it all before I thought to blog about it. (Half the bunch was eaten with bacon and white crusty bread for lunch; the other half formed the basis of an asparagus risotto at dinner.)

The asparagus pictured here is my second bunch of the season, purchased at Warwick market yesterday morning -- along with some Cotswold bacon and locally-baked bread. The asparagus season doesn't last long, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

*Formerly known as 'sperage' or 'sparrowgrass'. OED:
1865 ‘C. BEDE’ Rook's Gard., etc. 96, I have heard the word sparrowgrass from the lips of a real Lady -- but then she was in her seventies.

Blogs I Read (2)

Slugger O'Toole, mentioned in a previous posting, is one of several Irish and Northern Irish sites I read regularly. Another is Will Crawley's blog, 'Will and Testament' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/) which is ethics- and culture-based and links to a weekly programme Crawley presents on Radio Ulster. I get the podcast of the programme as well.

The other blogs I'm reading regularly at the moment (and have now added to my Google Reader) are Alex Ross's (http://www.therestisnoise.com/) and a foodie site, http://eattherightstuff.squarespace.com/blog/. The Alex Ross site connects with a book of the same name on twentieth-century classical music. I was given the book as a Christmas present, read it in January, but didn't discover the blog until afterwards. This is a pity, since the site includes a number of soundfiles (of out-of-copyright recordings) intended to be listened to in conjunction with Ross's descriptions in the book. I wish I'd known this in time to take advantage.

As for eattherightstuff, I discovered it by accident last week when I googled for a recipe for butternut squash risotto. I must be getting more used to this blogging business, for I even posted a comment on the site, asking the blogger, Abby, about possible substitutes for double cream in another of her recipes. And she wrote back! It's a start, at least.

By their blogs, you shall know them.

Food for the Soul (and Body)

On Saturday morning, I went on an excursion to Southam, Warwickshire. The reason for my visit was that I'd been recommended to try the Southam farmers' market. I hadn't quite anticipated this rather magnificent church, which dominates the town (or village?) scape.

I'm interested in church architecture, but I tend to do most of my explorations when I'm on holiday. So St James', Southam, was an unexpected pleasure. The main building is apparently 14th/15th-century, with some Victorian details in the interior. According to Pevsner, the style is more typical of Northamptonshire, apart from the red stone (the colour isn't very apparent in the photograph, but it's very striking in situ). Disappointingly, the doors were locked, so we couldn't get inside: so there will have to be a return visit some other time.

The farmers' market, however, supplied some very flavourful apples, onions, and even some sprouts.