Spring is coming: The tips you need for cooking with asparagus

Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our food and drink newsletter for free Get our food and drink newsletter for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The stalks should be an even green colour, says chef and farmer Abra Berens in “Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables.” If there are dark spots, that might be a sign of age or disease. If they are not dry or have just been harvested, no need to snap off the ends.” Madison: “With thick asparagus, you're better off cutting it because it will break virtually anywhere on the stalk and you'll end up wasting a lot of good food.” She recommends looking for the point at which the colour of the stalk changes and cut there. I tend to be in Berens's camp here: “Asparagus takes well to most treatments, but cooking less is more, and sometimes even not at all is best.” In other words, you don't need to do much to enjoy it. “I like that asparagus gives me that bright, earthy, bitter sort of flavour,” McQuirter says.