Asparagus Peas (1861)

It's May! The longer I experiment with historic bills of fare, the more I come to appreciate the abundant variety of produce in season during the summer.

Asparagus Peas

Today I returned to the Fort's kitchen for the second time since The Plague began. One of the dishes we tried was Beeton's Asparagus Peas (in season May-July). 

Contrary to the name, there are no peas in this dish, nor does it call for the asparagus pea (winged bean). My best guess is that the small cut pieces of the asparagus are meant to resemble peas, but otherwise I have no idea.

Per the instructions, I cut the asparagus into small, even pieces (aiming for 1/4" based on the name), and set them on the stove to boil, draining them once fork-done. For the sauce, I started by melting butter on the stove with sliced scallions (substituted for the green onions), and parsley. Per the instructions, I let this go about 10 minutes, added the sugar, a large spoon of flour, and a splash of water, then brought it to a boil. I then moved the pan to the back of the stove, added the egg and cream, and almost-simmered it.   

All told, it's boiled asparagus in a Hollandaise-like sauce. It was fairly well received by the interpreters. I thought it tasted alright, but could use some salt. Of course, checking over the receipt again, I realized that I missed the "add salt" step near the end, so that's something to fix for next time. 

The two intentional changes I made were substituting the scallions for the green onions (I have a lot of immature onions in my garden), and leaving the parsley & onions in the sauce. The last was because we were short on time. I wouldn't do it for a formal dinner, but under the circumstances, I think it was necessary and didn't detract from the dish. 

I intend to try this again with the salt, and properly straining the sauce. It'll be useful if I find myself cooking for a historic dinner in the late spring/early summer when asparagus is in season. Though in my reading, "forcing" asparagus through the winter was possible with hand-glasses and a hot-bed (dung and compost buried beneath the plants to heat soil), so circumstances might arise in which I could justify serving asparagus in the winter or early spring..