I am now addicted to mayonnaise de Luxembourg… but I buy it in Luxembourg. I have a few plastic bottles in stock. It has quite a bit of mustard in it, more than most "mayonnaises à la moutarde."

Asparagus is not my fave so usually only have it at restos or friends'. Do you cook it in one of those tall skinny pots so tops don't get mushy?

Also, Julia Child's blender hollandaise is easy. She has a mayo also.

I have never known anybody who has one of those pots. Perhaps they are common in certain restaurants.

They come up if one googles 'asparagus cooking pots,' kerouac. I don't know anyone who has one either but they make sense.

kerouac, now you do. As do you TDudette! That being said, I just snap the end of the stems, peel the bottom of the stalk if necessary and bring to a boil in a skillet half full of water.

After all these great suggestions I am looking forward to trying to cook some myself. TDudette Didn’t know about asparagus pots. Im loving the education I’m receiving from the information provided you all. Thanks.

I know people with asparagus pots, but not in France, because who has the space for a single function pot (unless its a daubiere, of course). They come with a basket insert.

Blender mayo is easy but it does come out super thick, like commercial mayo. I prefer the texture of hand beaten.

Well, kudos to those who have special pots for asparagus, but most of us peasants get by with minimal extra kitchen equipment. I'd love to have a fancy kitchen with all kinds of pots and pans, but that's never going to happen, so here I am with just my two hands and a lot of energy.

Thanks gomiki!

A friend of mine made a 'daub' that was soooo good. StC, 'daubiere' another new word! Merci.😍

Actually, the principal single function pot that many families have is a couscoussière, but you need a whole family to make it worthwhile.

TDude, one of the luxuries of the French language is that you can slap "ière" onto almost anything and make it sound important. :lol:

Daube is a traditional provençale dish. North of the Loire (as the French call northern France), we are much more prone to eating boeuf bourguignon instead and if you go all the way to the Belgian border, you enter the territory of carbonnade. Anyway, they are all long simmered dishes invented to tenderize tough cuts of beef, but I never imagined that one had to have a special pot to do that.

Oddly enough, the slang meaning of "daube" is something of bad quality, and the original meaning of daube is, uh, "kitchen slut."

Gomiki, I bet your asparagus pot was a present from some kind friend. I always wanted an asparagus pot even though I'm not a big fan of asparagus but I could never justify spending the money. And now I'm downsizing. At one time I was a Julia Child wannabe but with a smaller budget.

Special pots are fun. I saw a big copper one in the kitchen at Chenonceau, with an odd protrusion on one end. I asked at the entry desk and apparently I was not the first to ask about this, because the guy said to me in English, It's a ham cooker and that's for the bone.

cheska, let us know how you like the white asparagus.

When we were packing up the house I had a rule that if I hadn’t used anything for the past 12 months it was going. This was the case with kitchen appliances. I’m not even a cook and had all these items that I used once. I’m sure you all have been there. This is leading me to my next question. I haven’t seen rice cookers in France. Would they be in the normal electrical appliances section. I miss three things and that is because of our not so great stove and saucepans. The rice cooker, the electric frypan, and the vertical grill.

kerouac that sounds like my slow cooker. Funny how this ‘slow cooking’ has been around probably for centuries and yet it is so fashionable. My mother used to cook like this with the cheaper cuts of meat. Love lamb shanks done in my slow cooker.

Rice cookers are found in absolutely every Asian store in France but not in the normal French ones. The French don't really eat all that much rice.

Oh, yes, the couscoussière! Just the word makes me want to make a tajine this weekend. Asparagus is also widely available now, in the green variety. It sounds like the asparagus steamer works well,.

The traditional daubière is made of terracotta and has a special shape for condensation. You can find them still in specialty shops and in ceramic-focus villages like Vallauris. There is also a box-shaped copper version that I covet. I see them from time to time in the local brocante. But I think most people, like myself, use some sort of cocotte. I'm also amused by other specialty pots and pans in France, like the pomme vapeur.

Regarding the conaravirus affecting the world at the moment, it seems that the French Government are taking lots of precautions. The remaining days of the Nice Carnivale and Menton Fete Citron have been cancelled. This is as a precaution only, and not because there are any cases in Nice or Menton. I have included the email we received today.

Important - annulation de la Fête du Citron®]

Monsieur le Maire de Menton annonce l’annulation de la Fête du Citron® (jardins et corsos) par application du principe de précaution, en raison de la situation sanitaire liée au coronavirus COVID19.

Plus d'informations sur le remboursement des billets très prochainement.

I don’t have any concerns for ourselves. Sad for those people who have been affected.

Actually, today's parade in Nice was cancelled due to bad weather and high winds, not for health reasons.

kerouac thanks for the clarification on yesterday’s events being cancelled.

Went to the market this morning and couldn’t find white asparagus. I was impressed though by the look of the white navet ( white turnips).There were also some purple/ white ones and I think these were called rave ? I’m presuming they are the same as turnips.
I was not able to convince by husband to try them. He has hangups from boiled turnips as a child. I might get some on Saturday.

In Australia I make a roast vegetable salad and all these vegetables would look great in the salad. It is served warm and the recipe includes cheese in between the layers as soon as the vegetables are removed from the oven. I don’t add the cheese. It does look really good when served in a glass bowl.

I did love the presentation of multi coloured carrots, different shaped and coloured radish, and the strawberries. I couldn’t resist a small punnet of Strawberries.

Cheska, what goes into your roast vegetable salad? It sounds delicious even without the cheese.

Nothing is better in my opinion than a basket of good strawberries. I envy you. We are months away from having strawberries here. When strawberries are in, I could eat strawberry shortcake 3x a day.