Over many, many, many years, the Rhine River would flood its banks and the silt in the water would end up in the soil along the river. Over time, this made the land very fertile and full of minerals that plants love. Today, this means that there is very good farmland in this area of France and Germany. They grow many things, incuding corn, wheat, soy, barley, mustard, potatoes, turnips, beets and grapes. However, there is one food they grow that makes the people very proud. It's white asparagus. You can find it all over the supermarkets and farmers' markets in both France and Germany, and it tends to be much thicker and more pale than its green American cousin. The white asparagus from this part of the world is so important that villages and towns will elect an "asparagus queen" to help ensure a good harvest!
White asparagus, or l' asperge in French and spargel in German, looks like a very pale stick with one end that comes to a point and the other being flat. It looks like a big white pencil! Now, this is the way we have seen it all over the place but one end is flat because it is cut from the plant when it is harvested. It's also thick compared to the green ones I have in the U.S. Most asparagus I have cooked and eaten are probably no more than a half-inch thick.
