Why White Asparagus (Spargel) Is So Expensive | So Expensive Food | Insider Business

[Music] the first thing you notice about this asparagus is its color but that's only the beginning white asparagus has a much thicker stalk than the common green variety and the white ones they're a little bit sweeter the sweeter and chuzia aficionados refer to this vegetable as white gold and they're willing to pay three times more for it than green asparagus because of its distinct flavor I have clients calling me starting in January when is this burger is coming but but white asparagus and greenish Argus are the exact perfect colorless stalk to fetch the highest price requires special preparation specialized tools and a race against the Sun so what exactly does it take to turn asparagus white and why is it so expensive [Music] that's all I need there's there's nothing else I need for lunch or dinner Alvin schrutner is the head chef at Cafe Cartier in New York City one of the few places outside Europe that serves Spargo or white asparagus the restaurant offers a special menu Every Spring I look at this those are the asparagus What I'm Looking forward they're as thick as my hand even though we are at the end of the season this year this Burgers is still amazing the heated crack it's just gorgeous since white asparagus predominantly grows in Central and Western European countries like Germany Austria and France Irvin must import all the white asparagus he serves in his restaurant and it's not cheap very early in the spring a case can cost as much as 25 dollars per pound according to Alvin I can't do it I can't touch it at that price I do have to wait until it comes down a little bit to otherwise I have to judge a hundred dollar for a dish because of the high import price he charges anywhere from twenty four dollars for a small sampler portion to 46 for a main asparagus dish with a side of roast duck he says he goes through anywhere from 120 to 180 wise asparagus stalks per day by mid-june he's already down to his very last case and here you can see a case of beautiful beautiful large asparagus I I just love when I see this so far it is here this was 11 pounds in the case I have done 180 cases the reason chefs like Alvin are willing to pay such high prices for white asparagus goes back to the laborious and time-intensive process it takes to grow it on Specialized Farms like this one in beelids Germany it's spagle season for just three months a year the delicacy draws crowds from all over the country for food and festivities white asparagus thrives in loose sandy soil like the type found around bee lits uh um Jurgen jakobs and his brother Joseph Harvest about 1.5 million kilograms of asparagus per year on their 618 Acres of farmland although they do grow green asparagus over 90 percent of their crop is the more valuable white variety since green asparagus and white asparagus are actually the same plant the color it will become depends entirely on how it's raised once an asparagus stalk pops out of the ground it's exposed to the Sun and produces chlorophyll the tip will initially turn slightly purple and then green with more exposure the trick to keeping it white is letting the plant grow as large as possible underground then once it emerges from the earth Farmers must Harvest it before it has a chance to turn green to accomplish this they build mounds of dirt around the asparagus and then cover the rows of crops in these foil tops the foil reflects the sunlight away from the plant and helps prevent the coloration of the stalks it also helps maintain the temperature of the plants underground which means that jargon's farm can control the asparagus yield based on current demand and weather is foreign and demand sores in the spring the official asparagus season starts in mid-april and ends around June 24th the feast day of Saint John the Baptist and the strict June cut-off date is crucial to the future of the crops um each asparagus stem produces about 15 shoots over the course of three months since asparagus is a perennial crop the same plant will continue to produce stalks for eight to ten years once the white asparagus heads appear through the mound each stalk is removed carefully one at a time using a special asparagus knife called the sparklestecher the trick is to put two fingers into the soil to find the stalk insert the knife and pluck it at just the right spot so you don't destroy the crown or Roots while much of the harvesting is done by hand Jurgen says the farm has automated some of the processes over time to increase production is a [Music] Albertson s in the relatives [Music] today instead of the asparagus basket there are harvesting AIDS the harvesting AIDS Drive battery powered over the fields foreign the harvested asparagus is immediately brought inside for cleaning and sorting and speed is crucial since white asparagus will begin to spoil only about 10 days after harvesting and I think this fire is [Music] sought the asparagus by quality the most expensive Sparkle is pure white perfectly straight and thick but some might have purple color to them a thinner stalk or a curved shape which can decrease the price by several euros any asparagus that doesn't make the cut will return to the farm for use as compost the schwargo that passes the quality checks can be sold locally for anywhere from 6 to 10 euros per kilogram depending on the year it's also shipped abroad where export prices can exceed that range due to the Sparkle's short shelf life and the speed required in shipping that's how it ends up in restaurant kitchens around the world like Alvin's unlike green asparagus white asparagus must be peeled before it can be eaten since the long time spent underground causes it to develop a tough thick outer layer the case like this it will take me six to seven minutes there are 42 to 48 asparagus in there depends of size and then you choose it just goes and the skin is flying off white asparagus is also typically boiled in its own stock made from these peeled skins two lemons is perfect for my pot here and I just put this into the water and we have some salt that's all we need here to get the water going the ends of stalks are also snapped off beautiful cool wow that was a good one and then trimmed to a uniform length before being placed in the stock and boiled for about 10 minutes and let them boil now they're ready for plating fine dining restaurants in Europe when I did this we had very crisp still if you do this at home and you eat it right away you might want to go another two minutes [Music] the most traditional dish and the most popular one at Cafe Katia is boiled asparagus smothered in Hollandaise sauce and served with a side of potatoes [Music] that's all I need there's there's nothing else I need for lunch or dinner I absolutely don't miss any proteins on this one there's definitely proteins in the egg in the hollandaise that's enough he also serves a version covered in lemon vinaigrette with prosciutto and croutons while demand for white asparagus is as strong as ever both in Europe and at restaurants abroad like Cafe Katia the industry hasn't been immune to recent International crises during the covid-19 pandemic seasonal workers at asparagus farms weren't allowed to cross the border into Germany inciting fear of a Spargo shortage the German government was forced to pass an emergency Bill allowing them into the country and with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 Rising utility costs and inflation led to European citizens spending Less on items like luxury vegetables operational Sciences and at Cafe for me in preparing and peeling the asparagus actually I'm looking forward to it every year and it's a little bit of meditation foreign is flying off we fly them in from Europe they are not shipped because their shelf life is not that long the asparagus and really take a pride of it because my asparagus menu so far I have not seen anywhere in United States who has such an extensive menu as we do

Channel: Insider Business

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Keywords: Business Insider, Business News, Asparagus, Germany

Id: OnDov0FCZk8

Length: 12min 28sec (748 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 05 2023