It is early in our GSE experience as we are with our first families in Bremerhaven. Before our team traveled to Germany, we were all invited to Manfred Schumaker’s home for dinner. Manfred is a member of the RC of BonAir. Most of the team was able to experience this delightful meal and occasion. With dinner we had very tender, white asparagus. Manfred told us we had to try it. I never ate white asparagus before. It looked funny. I eat asparagus all the time at home, you know, the green kind with thin stalks that are pencil-thick. All the white asparagus is as thick as your thumb. So thank you Manfred for the wonderful dinner and hospitality...for helping us to experience white asparagus the German way…and making sure we all learned the benefits of trying a new experience.
As Manfred told us, the white asparagus is very much in season right now in Northern Germany. The Germans, like most Europeans, love to eat their food fresh. So often times you do not have as much variety, only what is in season. I am staying at the home of Hans-Guenther und Evelyn Gellersen. Hans is a Lutheran paster and Evelyn is an undertaker. One takes care of your soul while the other looks after your body when you no longer need it. The Gellersen’s are a delightful couple about my age. They have a very friendly dog named Cora.
My first meal in Germany was a wonderful Saturday evening dinner prepared by Evelyn. We had ham, boiled potatoes and white asparagus! We had a hollandaise sauce to pour over the vegetables. The meal was delicious!
The Gellersen’s live in a small community outside Bremerhaven in the country. The town is surrounded by farms and wooded areas. The homes are all beautiful brick structures with ceramic tiled roofs. It is very peaceful here. We attend a church service on Sunday morning. Hans-Guenther and I go to purchase fresh buns at a local market for breakfast before church. We go to the local farmer for fresh eggs at his home, too.
Hans-Guenther showed me the local asparagus farm. The crop is grown on long, two-foot high mounds in a field. It must be back-breaking work to harvest. When the stalks rise out of the earth, the dirt around the top is removed, then the stalk is cut and collected. A machine rolls and cleans the stalks and they are sized and graded for market. This farmer has a shop. We enter and I am given a demonstration of how the asparagus is peeled at home. The Gellersens purchased an asparagus peeler for me to take home. Peeling is the secret to making the asparagus tender.
We returned home for the afternoon Sunday supper. Evelyn has prepared a special dinner. We have beef rolled with different vegetables and spices. Very tasty! We also have new potatoes, carrots and some more white asparagus! We have to enjoy it now because it is in season.
On Monday evening each of the team is taken to a different Rotarian family to enjoy a meal. Hans-Guenther, Evelyn and I go back to Bremerhaven to the home of Konrad und Marion Rogge. Konrad is a retired industrialist. They are in their early seventies and have a charming home in a quiet neighborhood. We enjoyed sitting in their garden to enjoy nature and interesting conversation, then retired to the dining room for another German dinner. Tonight we have ham which is very tasty and shaved very thinly, new potatoes, and not to my surprise, more white asparagus! Dinner is complemented with a white wine. We enjoyed another interesting evening.
I am very thankful for all my experiences so far in Lower Saxony. We have an entire month ahead of us…a lot to look forward to…and white asparagus season goes for at least another month.
Sign to the Asparagus Farm and Store. Today's price is 20 euros.
Here is the machine that cleans and sorts the day's asparagus harvest.
Posted by Stephen
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