Je m'appelle Brigitte and I'll be Your Asparagus Tonight

Our asparagus have names. No, I'm not going crazy - the produce is not talking back to me - but yes, I admit I sometimes talk to them. Andrea made this discovery today as she was processing our hugely fat bunches. Each bunch has a red and gold foil name tag tucked in that might read "Je m'appelle Brigitte et je suis nee a Villelaure" - or "My name is Brigitte and I was born in Villelaure." So far she's only found Brigitte and Danielle bunches. And for you provenance groupies out there, you've got to know that if our asparagus is from Villelaure - a town in Provence - that they can only be from Robert Blanc - the Hermes of the asparagus world. The Brigittes and Danielles come to us tightly bundled - a big upright package of stalks about 10 inches in diameter. And each stalk - green - is not just fat - they're asparagus as sculpted by Botero. Cartoonishly fat - each stalk is about as thick as a jumbo Magic Marker. But after careful peeling, trimming, and cooking - in just plain old boiling salted water like you might do at home - they're unbelievably fine, delicate, and smooth. No wonder M. Blanc is proud enough to give them names.