An accompaniment for white asparagus

As promised, here is my mother-in-law’s simple and delicious accompaniment to delectable white asparagus, made by DH, and inspired by our recent trip to the market in Chinon.

A close up of the kilo we brought home.

Here they are cooked to perfection, and below, your perfectly prepared French plat.

What you will need:

Nicely thick, white asparagus

Eggs, 1-2 per person

Dijon mustard

Mustard à l’ancienne

Red wine vinegar

Sunflower oil

Olive oil

Nutmeg

Fresh tarragon

Salt and pepper

1. Boil water with some salt.

2. Prepare the asparagus by peeling them and cutting off the bottom ends so that they are all the same size. The bottoms can also be bitter, so you want to cut about 10 cm if the asparagus are relatively big.

3. Boil eggs. 1-2 eggs per person.

4. Add asparagus to the boiling water. Let cook. You will know they are ready when a blade can go through the top of the stalks easily. Be careful not to over cook them, they mustn’t fall apart.

5. While the asparagus are boiling, make the mixture. It’s like a vinaigrette so mix a tablespoon of Dijon mustard and Moutard à l’ancienne with 1 or 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and then add several tablespoons of sunflower oil. Add a small amount of nutmeg, finely chopped tarragon and salt and pepper to taste.

6. Dice the boiled eggs and add them to your vinaigrette with a dash of olive oil.

7. Mix and voilà! Serve over the asparagus.

Bon appétit!