Each week, my Meal of the Week feature examines an airline meal from my travels over the years. This may be a meal from earlier in the week or it may be a meal served over a decade ago.
It’s white asparagus season in Europe (Germany especially) and I had the rare opportunity to sample asparagus in first class two days in row on two different airlines. So who did it better, Emirates or Lufthansa?
My Emirates flight from Dubai to Brussels aboard the 777-300 in first class showcased the steak over the white asparagus as the primary focus. That was a mistake.
Grilled Beef Tenderloin
Served with truffle hollandaise, white asparagus, and steamed potatoes with parsley
The steak itself was dry and not particularly tasty. But the white asparagus was tremendous. Not only was it perfectly cooked, but the truffle hollandaise sauce was perfect: not too rich, not too light. The freshly steamed potatoes with parsley were also incredibly fresh.
I certainly could have done without the steak as the portion size of asparagus was large.
The next day, I flew Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Los Angeles. Asparagus was on the menu and I knew exactly what I had to order for my main course.
Fresh White Asparagus with Sauce Hollandaise and Parsley Potatoes
Served by your request with Black Forrest Ham and Prosciutto Cotto
I did not request the ham, but it arrived anyway and I skipped it. The asparagus was very good, though not as tender as Emirates nor was the hollandaise sauce as nice.
I should add that the Lufthansa flight also offered delectable cream of asparagus soup, which I greatly enjoyed.
The Emirates flight had white asparagus salad with quail eggs, radishes, and pine nuts which I skipped. I also appreciated that Emirates shared on the menu that white asparagus is grown in the dark (I had no idea):
CONCLUSION
So while the steak may have been horrible on Emirates, the UAE-carrier offered better asparagus than German-carrier Lufthansa. Ouch.
But you won’t go wrong with ordering it on either airline…I loved both dishes. Neither, however, beat the homemade recipe of my father-in-law, which I had enjoyed a couple weeks earlier and were so fresh and delicious they required no sauce.
Is asparagus commonly eaten as a mains?
Only on airplanes it seems.
Absolutely not. All over Germany it is served a main course during the season.
For the Spargel-freaks, the restaurant on my street here in Germany serves the following menue:
(1) Spargel soup & Spargel salad as starters.
(2) Spargel with potatoes, ham, omelette and melted butter as main.
(4) Spargel flavored ice cream with strawberries as dessert.
A bit much if you ask me but I know quite a few who like it.
Going wild for spargel (I.e. white asparagus) is an understatement. The month of May is practically a holiday to celebrate spargel in Germany.
Well Asparagus on airline flights will always be tricky. Lufthansa doin about 300kg of it in Munich alone, getting such amount in good quality on everyday basis from a farmer is… impossible 🙂
Traditional serving of White asparagus includes the ham….
But the sauce on LH looked plastic !
Well, nearly all my fellow Germans have a psychosis when its time for Spargel. I like it but I only want it fresh and not reheated on an airplane *shudder*. I much prefer green Spargel with a bit of balsamic, wrapped in not-cooked ham such as Schwarzwälder Schinken and served with a bit of Parmesan.
Nevertheless, here is a link to a picture where you can see the Spargel “colonnades” covered with black plastic foil to keep it dark: https://www.fotocommunity.com/photo/spargelfeld-irgendwosonst/32522050
Spargel grows best in sandy ground and the world’s largest producer is not Germany but China. Germany comes fourth behind China, Peru and Mexico. I hope that the LH Spargel came from Germany…..
White Asparagus for me is the end all be all and this convo is killing me! Luckily I just landed in Munich and will be headed out soon to seek the last of it as the season ends.
On a side note flew YVR-MUC last night in LH F and was not at all impressed with the food. It was barely edible and reminded me of AA First in some ways. I imagine it may be more of a product of YVR catering…dunno..but was awful. Plating was reminiscent of AA as well: slop it on and rack em and stack em.
I feel the same way about YYZ-everywhere. Come on Canada, you gave us poutine, you can do better!
Yes, catering ex-YVR is atrocious. Had some of the worst food on Cathay F I’ve ever encountered. Which is crazy because Chinese food in Vancouver is heavenly.
Haven’t had the pleasure of flying out of YYZ except for quick hops to NYC.
Good to know that it was not me being (slightly) spoiled. But man it was atrocious. And yeah, so odd given the amazing food to be found in Vancouver. Was one of the few times I wished I had just saved the points/fees and flown in Business.
the white asparagus I had in France was great!!
Asparagus is a treat and well worth the vague unpleasantness of smelly pee after eating it. But keeping it in the dark just to keep it white seems a bit cruel, so my view is that it should be given sunlight and allowed to grow green.
Then it wouldn’t be white asparagus anymore, would it…
cruel?