history of asparagus

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Hello guys, welcome to the history of asparagus
Presented to you by Big Short
And the source today is asparaguslover.com
Anyway, let's begin

The history of asparagus
The history of asparagus goes back a long way
The abbreviation of the word asparagus gives us some idea of its early history
Section 2

Asparagus, grass, esparrago and spargel
The word asparagus is rooted to ancient Greek
Where the word asparaphargos can be identified in various literature with two different meanings
The first found in Homer's Iliad is used to mean throat or gullet

Whilst the second is referred to as the edible shoots of stone spurge or asparagus
Acutifolus
The asparagos without the h is also Greek and it means of obscure origin
We have yet

We have seen reference to the fact that at one point the Greek word
Referred to as the young edible shoots of any plant that shoot up from the earth
But can't identify this fact
The Greek developed into the word asparagus in classical Latin

But was then shortened to asparagus in medieval Latin
According to the world of wide words it first appeared in English around 1000 AD
And by the 16th century it was commonly referred to in English
English was spelt wrong here

As sparak or sparach
At this point in common with other English language developments
There was a reversion to the classical Latin roots encouraged by academics and herbalists
And so asparagus came back into use

Not content with going full circle in common with the use of the a
It was dropped and the words asparagus, sparagrass and sparrow grass
Became widely used with grass and another shortening still used today
Asparagus is believed to be seen in an Egyptian frieze dating back to 3000 BC

And it is said to have been known in Syria and Spain
The ancient Greeks ate asparagus for its tender shoots
But it was the Romans who first started to cultivate asparagus more than 2000 years ago
Julius Caesar is alleged to have eaten asparagus with melted butter

Just as we do
These early adopters enjoyed eating asparagus in season
But they also dried it for use in the winter
The Romans are said to have used frozen asparagus in the Alps

For a feast of epicurus
Transporting it there by fast chariots and runners
Whilst the emperor Augustus is said to have built a fleet of ships
To transport asparagus around the Roman Empire

The oldest surviving book or recipes is said to be Apicus' Deracoconara
And it contains a recipe for cooking asparagus
As well as growing asparagus for its culinary delights
The Greeks and Romans considered it to have medicinal qualities

The phrase
I might have said that wrong
Means to eat something faster than the time taken to cook asparagus
And is attributed to the emperor Augustus

After the demise of the Roman Empire
Little is heard regarding the history of asparagus for a while
Evidence suggests that asparagus was being grown in French monasteries in 1459
But is unheard of in England and Germany until the mid 1500s

In the 16th century asparagus starts to appear in the history books again
It has reached France and England with Louis XIV of France
Allegedly having special greenhouses built to grow his asparagus
As quoted above

Samuel Pepys, the artist or the famous diarist
Records buying 100 asparagus in Fenchurch Street, London in 1661
1667, my bad, I can't read
Crossing the Atlantic

It is thought that colonists brought asparagus to North America in the 1700s
Planting it initially in New England
By the 1850s it had found its way to North California
West Brookfield in Massachusetts it believes that

Derek Lietois
I don't know how to pronounce that
May have been the first to introduce asparagus to New England
Ruth Leon, a local resident and writer has done some research

And tells a story here
That has nothing to do with what I'm saying
In her research and passion for the asparagus
History

Asparagus is history
Ruth has also learnt about asparagus etiquette
And has collected some stylish and interesting asparagus serving ware
Section 6

I'm not going to butcher this word
Evesham, Worcestershire
UK
Evesham in Worcestershire

Is one of the main asparagus growing regions in the UK
And the village of Badsey is home to the
Badsey Growers Society and has some interesting collections of information on the history of asparagus
According to their pages and to Terry Sparrow, author of

Digging for a Living
Asparagus was grown in the area as
As of
As early as

1768
He tells that
He tells of W. Pitt, author
Of

General view of the agriculture of the county of
Worcester
1813 recording seeing several flats of asparagus in the field
This is thought to refer to the large streth of level ground

Then in 1830
The Royal Horticultural Society
Awarded a medal
To Anthony New

For asparagus exhibited at the Vale of Evesham Society show
The same site hosts an interview with Lorna Haworth
Who talks about
Who talks at length about her childhood

As the daughter of
Ineos
Baylis
A market gardener in the Vale of Evesham

She talks about some traditional methods of tying and packing as well
As the ordures of keeping up with the crop
Evesham remains a centre of
Of

Evesham remains a centre of asparagus growing in the UK
And hosts the British Asparagus Festival
Section 7
German Asparagus Growing

Spargel as the Germans call it
Took hold in Germany around Stuttgart in the 16th century
Around the same time it was taking off in the UK
Initially it was grown exclusively for the royal court

Earning its nickname
I'm not going to try
Royal Vegetable
Schwedzingen

One of the two primary spargel growing regions in Germany
Is where Karl Theodor
Prince Elector started green
Asparagus growing competition amongst the princes in the 17th century

Whilst
Schrobenhausen
Another city steeped in the asparagus history houses
The European Asparagus Museum

Thank you for listening to the history of asparagus presented by me

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