A vegetable that is the star of the show

Borough Market, tucked away behind London Bridge, is a world-famous food market but I still find it a fascinating and appetite-inducing place, despite the hordes of people who make their way there.

The wide selection of produce available at Borough Market

We went in May, smack bang in the middle of asparagus season. The selection of UK asparagus was wonderful and immediately made me want to take a handful of the thick green stalks and dunk them into boiling water.

Succulent asparagus spears at Borough Market

These days asparagus is available all year round, but to eat English asparagus, in season, is to get as close to veggie heaven as possible. The succulence, the texture, the wonderful colour and the taste - all add up to a vegetable that does not need to be a side show to the main act.






My favourite way of eating asparagus at this time of year is to steam it, to sprinkle a little sea salt on it and then dip it into butter - no sauce, no fancy cooking methods - the food really does do the talking.

Out of season, asparagus is a great friend to peas and parmesan cheese in a risotto and of course it goes well with hollandaise sauce, or with poached egg. I put asparagus into pasta dishes and also use it with garlic and butter as a tapas dish.


It does well in tartlets and is a healthy and tasty soup ingredient, but when it is May and the stalks are freshly plucked from the soil, then there is only one way to eat asparagus - the simple way.