In article >,
"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:

> I agreed with earlier posts on short cooking times for
> asparagus. IMHO, less than 5 minutes is quite enough but I note
> from posts in rec.food.recipes that others like to cook it to
> death. I just remembered a Roman description of a very short
> time: "As long as it takes to cook asparagus", so it looks like
> there is historical justification for my view.
>
> I wonder if there is any consensus on cooking methods? I just
> boil it in water but I note that some advise steaming, sometimes
> by keeping it in bundles with the flowers out of the water and
> cooking it on a grill was also mentioned. For preparation, if
> the asparagus is pencil thin as I prefer it, I can just snap off
> the tough part without much wastage but I use a peeler to remove
> a few inches of green skin if the spears are thick.
>
> What dipping sauces do others recommend? I generally like just
> lemon and a sprinkling of parmesan but a lot of others work well
> like mayonnaise with parmesan and lemon etc.

Dipping sauces? I suppose if I was to dip asparagus in anything, it
would be Heinz Ketchup, of course. I am not a fan of asparagus at all
though, but my sister makes it and she steams it with a bit of olive oil
and crushed garlic and its pretty good, just as it is.