10-07-2009 om 14:02 by Stafford Wadsworth

Although the asparagus season came to an end on June 21, it is worth reflecting on the noble spear. It is deeply embedded in the imagination: in erect bundles on the walls of Pompeii and on the canvases of Edouard Manet and Proust's observations are well known; in particular, the olfactory reminiscences on what can never be regarded as a mere vegetable. Asparagus is also at home in the Maastricht Region.

The principal Dutch asparagus growing area is considered to extend from somewhere north of Venlo, down to the Roermond area on the Dutch side of the German-Dutch border. This is due to the presence of a sandy soil that the white asparagus is said to like.

This delicacy also grows at a location within the Maastricht city limits, at the Wahlen-Niesten farmstead - an old manor farm round and home to the family for five generations. They started growing asparagus ten years ago; first growing green asparagus with success. Now on the Lanakerveld, Raymond Niesten grows Backlim white asparagus on a loess soil under the plastic.

The succulent white asparagus is the thing to eat in season. À la flamande, asparagus with fine ham off the bone, tiny new potatoes, a couple of hard-boiled eggs and a hollandaise sauce is addictive. Instead of the Muscat d'Alsace, try a local vintage with it. Apostelhoeve, within the Maastricht city boundaries, produces an excellent pinot gris

You may have missed the asparagus, but you can’t escape the cherries. When the game season starts, you can eat them with a fillet of hare; now is the season to concentrate on the varieties like the hedelfinger and the sweet black cherry. Once you start to think of local natural products in this region, the list starts to grow. Next come the apples and pears, the latter also praised by Proust, though he may never have tasted stroop - the syrup produced by the pears which can accompany the local Rommedou cheese. The latter is also claimed to repel mosquitoes.

At the end of the summer, come the grapes and the wine. Napoleon had the vines pulled up when he ruled this area at the end of the XVIII century. Now growers, like Apostelhoeve in Maastricht, are making a comeback, aided by climate change, which is giving the region a truly Burgundian climate.

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