Asparagus with soft boiled sauce gribiche

an edible memory

I arrived in London just in time for wisteria, warm sunshine and English asparagus. They were everywhere. We ate them pickled, raw, finely sliced, served with romesco, steamed and coated in breadcrumbs. Lita in Marylebone had white asparagus embroidered on their napkins. My favourite iteration was at The French House in Soho where asparagus were trimmed, steamed and served with a chervil and crushed egg vinaigrette - a take on sauce gribiche, a cold French sauce in the mayonnaise family made by emulsifying hard boiled egg yolks with mustard and oil then mixed with with soft herbs, cornichons and capers. But here the chef used soft boiled eggs, allowing the yolk to create a smooth sauce that was less mayo, more soft yellow vinaigrette. And just as we finished the basket of sliced sourdough, along came another to sop it all up. I loved it.

After the meal we spilled out onto the crowded Soho streets, still light in the warm, spring evening. Corner pubs were packed with people. Rickshaws flashed their pink lights and pumped out the Spice Girls - Tell me what you want what you really really want. The air smelled of smoke, beer, smog and lilacs.

I’m home now, just in time for the pink blossoms on our weeping cherry tree. The small Hawthorne across the street, a few weeks from flowering. Dandelions dotting the lawn. Ontario asparagus in the farmers’ markets. Gout weed taking over the garden. My sister’s backyard wisteria, still several weeks away from unfurling. The memories from the trip will flavour all of this, weaving their way into our late spring in Halifax, keeping life fresh. Things like -

-Gill Button’s group show - The Peace of Wild Things - at Soho Revue, where this ephemeral beauty was on display.

-discovering that Gill Button painted the faces on the cover of Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors, so I bought it. (I’ll report back).

-the Cherry Walk at Kew Gardens where giant tulips were swaying in the wild grasses under the cherry trees

-high tea with my nieces at Sketch, where a string trio played instrumental pop from Bridgerton

-Jonathan Bailey of Bridgerton playing Richard II at Bridge Theatre

-the woman working at Cos rocking the same haircut as Mia from the 2003 film Love Actually

-purchasing this very fun lipstick case for myself on mother’s day

-the chocolate mousse topped with chocolate crumbs at the end of the meal at The French House - a textural sensation. Stay tuned for that attempt, hopefully next week…

Steamed asparagus with soft boiled sauce gribiche - with thanks to David Lebovitz’s blog for the framework for this recipe, where he makes sauce gribiche the traditional way with hard boiled egg yolk and serves it over baked fish. It’s a versatile sauce.

Serves 4 as an appetizer

1 large egg¹

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon chopped gherkin (cornichon)

1 teaspoon - 10 ish - drained and rinsed capers, roughly chopped

⅓ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

a good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper

¼ cup gently packed soft herbs - parsley, chervil, tarragon - I used basil, not traditional, but, it works

12 asparagus, woody ends snapped off and ends peeled

Slices of thick crusty bread to serve

Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Lower egg into the water and gently boil for 4 minutes. Remove egg from the pan and lower into a bowl of ice water to cool.

While egg is cooling, add Dijon to a bowl. Peel egg carefully and pour yolk into the bowl with the Dijon. This is awkward, don’t be dismayed. Roughly chop the whites and combine them with the cornichons and capers. Set aside.

Whisk the egg yolk with the Dijon, then slowly add the olive oil, whisking constantly. Whisk in the red wine vinegar. Add the chopped whites, cornichons, capers, fresh herbs and gently stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, taste, then gently stir again and set aside.

To cook the asparagus, add water to a shallow fry pan, wide enough for the asparagus to fit horizontally, and bring to a gentle boil. Lower asparagus into the water and simmer until vibrant and just cooked through. You might have to do this in batches.

To serve, spoon a little pool of vinaigrette onto 4 plates, top with 3 asparagus then finish with more vinaigrette. Or serve all 12 on a serving platter and bring to the table.

1. Boiling time is based on an egg cold from the fridge. Cut time by a minute or so if the egg is room temperature. The idea is to cook the whites but to leave the yolk runny so it can becomes a liquid ingredient in the vinaigrette.