Today we had a very nice lunch. We were in an restaurant and they've offered the lunch as a buffet. The theme was asparagus and strawberries. So there was a soup made from asparagus, different salades and appetizers with asparagus, asparagus prepared in a lot of variation accompanied by several kind of meat. And a variation of desserts coming with strawberries. It was delicious.

Such lunch buffets with asparagus and strawberries are quite common at this time of the year in our region. And we love them. The question arised if something like this is common in other countries too. We (my daughter and I) would be glad to hear from you.

Asparagus-related celebrations I haven't heard of, although almost anyone who grows it in the garden is glad to give some away free, as so much ripens at one time.

In the NE and central US "strawberry festivals" are (or, maybe, were) common, in which church or community groups sponsor a dinner (often "pot luck" which means the attendees bring one home-made dish [= menu item] each for part of the dinner menu). The featured dish is a dessert of strawberries and cream, strawberries and ice cream, or strawberry shortcake [= strawberries, cream or ice cream, and pound cake or sponge cake or a sort of sweet biscuit].

And of course there's my wife's world-famous strawberry-rhubarb pie, which she makes every year for my birthday in the middle of May. :) Both foods are in season (= become ripe) at that time.

Sounds great Ernie. Thank you for sharing this. We have lots of rhubarb in our garden, and we make lots of different pies, cakes and desserts from it in this season. From strawberries as well ... But we have to buy the asparagus on a market. It grows in Germany too but in special regions only because it has special needs.

I think it was two years ago in June that I was in Berlin on business and it seemed that every restaurant had asparagus on the menu, especially white asparagus. Together with my business contact, Rudy, whom I have known since the 1970's, I had a late meal, with lovely wine and lots of animated conversation in German and English. I don't remember if I ordered asparagus.

The following day we visited the Neues Museum , saw the bust of Nefretiti and other Egyptian treasures. This was followed by lunch in a garden, where we shared our table (as is the custom in Germany) with a couple of Norwegian ladies who were visiting Berlin. We all spoke German and I handed out some LingQ cards!!

I really like Berlin, both for its history and for its modern dynamism. There is a chance that Mark and I will visit Berlin this October for the Sprachen und Beruf Conference. I hope we go.

Some years ago there was an Asparagus Festival where I live. There were special weekend trips from the mainland (arranged by the tourist agency, I think), the restaurants had new "asparagus dishes", educational activities and what not...

Veral, You're welcome. I was wondering if people grew rhubarb in Europe. It's good to know they do. Some sections of the U.S. grow it and others do not, so much, even where it will grow just fine.

A month or so ago my husband, daughter and I went strawberry picking. I loved it. The farm where we went strawberry picking also had all different kinds of foods made with strawberries, including strawberry jam, strawberry pie, strawberry shortcake (yum), and strawberry ice cream. Fresh local strawberries taste so much better than the strawberries shipped from who knows where that I usually see in the grocery store.

Thank you all for reporting your experiences.

@Ernie and Aybee: What about asparagus in the US? Does it grow there?

@Aybee: We love strawberries too. We have some in our garden, but not very much. But we also have areas were you can pick strawberries on your own. Fresh strawberries are so tasty!

@Jeff: Did you like asparagus? Does it grow in Sweden or do you import it?

@Steve: In May and June you find asparagus dishes in most of the restaurants in Germany. We Germans love asparagus. It is considered as a delicatessen. You find market stands on every street corner selling asparagus and strawberries at this season of the year in our region. Sharing tables is not so common in Germany. It can happen and it is not a no-go. But people will ask you for permission if there are no more free tables available to join your table. I love Berlin too. It's an inspiring city. Let me know when you know for sure that you'll come to the conference. I've checked that I have day offs from work at this time and I would be glad to meet you in Berlin. But I have to book the train tickets preferably 3 months in advance to get cheap train tickets and an affordable hotel.

Yes, asparagus is grown in the US. http://www.toledoblade.com/business/2012/04/26/... Growing up I never had asparagus. In the US, it is grown mostly in Washington, California, Michigan, and New Jersey, so maybe that is why I never had any growing up. I had it for the first time about 6 or 7 years ago. I like it and my husband loves it, so we have it often. I had never even heard of white asparagus before a Skype chat with a European online last year.

So the green asparagus is more common in the US? I guess 90 % of our asparagus is white asparagus.

I have never heard of white asparagus before today, however I have been eating green asparagus frequently since I was a child.

@Vera I am planning to attend the Sprachen und Beruf Oct 25 and 26. I think I will be fully involved trying to make contacts for LingQ.

This show is followed by Expolingua also in Berlin from Oct 26 to 28. It would be great if we could visit this show together. One day is enough from my experience. Perhaps other LingQers in the area could come to Berlin as well. I still have not finalized anything but hope to in the next week or so. It would be great to see you again.

Visiting the Expolingua in Berlin should be very interesting! I envy all the people who have this opportunity. I am a person without money to travel, this applies also within my own country. I looked on the map and found out that the distance between Berlin and my home town Krefeld is 450 km. Steve, will you also visit other places in Germany in October?

Fasulye

@Steve: Expolingua would be perfect. Let me know if you'll come and I'll try to come too. It would be great if other LingQers could join us. I know some of there are living in Berlin or not far from there. And you can go to Berlin by train very easily and affordable from all over German.

Veral, white asparagus I have seen (once) but never eaten. Green asparagus is a common garden vegetable in the eastern U.S and in the midwest.; aybee77's list is of states where it is commercially grown in significant quantities.

jeff_lindqvist, is it white or green asparagus your festival celebrates--which is more common in Sweden?

Expolingua sounds great!

Perhaps everyone knows this...but I thought I'd mention the interesting fact that white asparagus is green asparagus grown in a way that deprives it of light. So...same plant.

Yes Jingle, you're right. Here is a video (in German, but the pictures say enough): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD-2LPtKSUU&feat...
And here are some pictures: https://www.google.de/search?q=spargel+ernte&hl...

I have never heard of an asparagus and strawberry themed lunch before. In my part of Canada,our strawberries are often later than asparagus. White asparagus is not common, but you can get it in the grocery stores more often now. Strawberry themed deserts are always yummy.

That seems like a lot of extra work just to produce a vegetable with a blander taste. Either we Americans are too lazy to bury our asparagus or we prefer them with the chlorophyll taste. Perhaps a bit of both...

We have a seafood, and an ice cream festival.

at the same time? sounds fishy to me...

Yes, it's a lot of extra work but the taste is different and it seems that we like it this way. White asparagus is quite expensive because it is a lot of work to grow it. Recently I ate a meal with white and green asparagus and I like both.

Usually the asparagus season starts earlier than the strawberry season but there is a period when we have both.

Ice cream festival sounds great :)

Yes, the "Spargelzeit" in Germany is something special. It officially ends on 24 June each year, although sometimes it gets difficult to get good asparagus after 15 June, I think. Although there are quite a few ways to prepare white asparagus, the classic ones are hard to beat (with a sauce hollandaise and smoked Westphalian ham or with plain butter, delicious!). Some people prefer to dispense with a fork when eating the whole spears, others opt for cut spears and cutlery.

To lower the tone a bit: In his weekly column in the Hamburger Abendblatt Karasek some weeks wrote about the side effects of the asparagus season. I can't remember whether the column was actually accompanied by a caricature of a gas-mask-wearing toilet attendant, but he has a point. A whole nation's purification during the much-too-short weeks of indulgence in white asparagus does produce some strong smells...

On a somewhat related note, I prepared asparagus (the green kind) on the grill this evening for dinner, among other vegetables, such as green beens, carrots, and corn on the cob. I also grilled us up some delicious chicken. The asparagus went straight onto the grill, and was then sprinkled with a raspberry hazelnut vinaigrette salad dressing and grilled until the asparagus heads were slightly crispy. It was delicious!

SanneT > . . . A whole nation's purification during the much-too-short weeks of indulgence in white asparagus does produce some strong smells...

This is my single objection to consuming asparagus. Oddly enough, it is a consequence of eating asparagus that my wife is aware of only by report--she claims not to be affected at all, herself.

"There are two kinds of people in this world . . .. "