This is why Germans are obsessed with white asparagus

Asparagus season has arrived in Germany, signalling the unofficial beginning of springtime.

- Kirsten Grieshaber

There is no other vegetable that Germans obsess about as much as white asparagus. They can discuss for hours whether it should be eaten with melted butter or Hollandaise sauce, served with schnitzel, or should come with a side of potatoes boiled whole or peeled, cut into slices and fried with onion. There’s also some debate over whether you can eat the shoots with your fingers or only with a fork and knife-though traditional etiquette clearly states that using your fingers is no violation of good manners as long as you dip and clean them in a little bowl of warm water.

The only thing Germans can agree on when it comes to their favourite veggie is that green asparagus comes nowhere close to its white companion and may as well be snubbed or ignored.

“White asparagus is definitely more delicate in taste,” said Sven Sperling, 54, who was enjoying his first dish of the year at the Jakobs-Hof asparagus restaurant in Beelitz, just outside of Berlin. “it’s something very special. it’s not possible to compare it to green asparagus.”