Globe Corner Blogs

Two years after our last visit to Germany for Christmas, we are back again. We got to the Frankfurt airport at 5:30 am, our family waiting for us already, and we drove home to Lich in the state of Hessen. Lich is a small and nice medieval city about 45 minutes from Frankfurt that was founded as a small community around 790 A.D. A castle was erected in the 12th century and the town gained the right to be called a city in the year 1300. You still can see the history on a short stroll through downtown in its beautiful half-timbered houses and the castle. If all this is not enough to make one to visit Lich, knowing that this city is home of Licher Bier, one of the best known beers in Hessen, will do it.

This time, we are there in spring and we notice already on our way from the airport that everything looks so green and seems fresh and colorful. The colors come from the flowers and vegetables we see in the fields. And among them, I can see what makes me think of spring in Germany as “Spargelzeit,” literally “asparagus time.”

Accustomed to seeing all types of fruits and vegetables in the supermarkets of Cambridge regardless the season of the year, it is somehow refreshing to discover a world where seasons really make a difference, and I am not talking about clothing layers and temperature. Not that you do not find Chilean grapes or Israeli avocados on German shelves, but there you will know the season by what invades the streets. I am talking about asparagus. The white, large, thick, and (mmm!) creamy asparagus. They are in supermarkets, street markets, seasonal stands, every restaurant’s menu, magazines, advertisements, and pick-your-own fields along the road.

Now that I think of it, it is like apples and pumpkins in New England. They remind you of a season in one of the best possible ways: food. So this time, I have decided to enjoy what nature has for us, and attack it from the beginning. After we finally are settled down at home and have taken a power-nap, we are still on time to go for lunch at one of the best restaurants in the area. First thing I see in the menu: asparagus cream. Fantastic.

Over the rest of the week, we have asparagus at home with butter and potatoes. We go out for lunch and we have asparagus with hollandaise sauce and cooked ham, asparagus cream, and asparagus with tomatoes. And you cannot get sick of them because you know is an ephemeral treat, something you eat everyday in all possible ways during a few days or maybe some weeks, and it will be over. You will not see one asparagus more until next spring. Talk about looking forward to spring.

Read more: Beer, Food & Wine, Germany, New England, Seasons, Travel


Cecilia

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