Narrator: The first thing you notice about this asparagus
is its color.
But that's only the beginning.
White asparagus has a much thicker stalk
than the common green variety. And ...
The white ones, they're a little bit sweeter.
Sweeter and juicier.
Narrator: Aficionados refer to this vegetable as white gold,
and they're willing to pay
three times more for it than green asparagus
because of its distinct flavor.
I have clients calling me starting in January.
"When is the asparagus coming?"
Narrator: But since white asparagus
and green asparagus are the exact same plant,
growing the perfect colorless stalk
to fetch the highest price
requires special preparation, specialized tools,
and a race against the sun.
So, what exactly does it take to turn asparagus white?
And why is it so expensive?
That's all I need.
There's nothing else I need for lunch or dinner.
Narrator: Erwin Schröttner is the head chef
at Cafe Katja in New York City,
one of the few places outside Europe
that serves spargel, or white asparagus.
The restaurant offers a special menu every spring.
Erwin: I look at this.
Those are the asparagus what I'm looking forward.
They're as thick as my hand.
Even though we are at the end of the season this year,
the asparagus is still amazing.
Do you hear that crack?
It's just gorgeous.
Narrator: Since white asparagus predominantly grows
in Central and Western European countries
like Germany, Austria, and France,
Erwin must import all the white asparagus
he serves in his restaurant,
and it's not cheap.
Very early in the spring,
a case can cost as much as $25 per pound,
according to Erwin.
I can't do it. I can't touch it at that price.
I do have to wait until it comes down a little bit too.
Otherwise I have to charge $100 for a dish.
Narrator: Because of the high import price,
he charges anywhere from $24 for a small sampler portion
to $46 for a main asparagus dish
with a side of roast duck.
He says he goes through anywhere from 120
to 180 white-asparagus stalks per day.
By mid-June, he's already down to his very last case.
And here you can see
a case of beautiful,
beautiful, large asparagus.
I just love when I see this.
So far this year — this was 11 pounds in a case —
I have done 180 cases.
Narrator: The reason chefs like Erwin
are willing to pay such high prices for white asparagus
goes back to the laborious
and time-intensive process it takes to grow it
on specialized farms like this one in Beelitz, Germany.
It's spargel season.
For just three months a year,
the delicacy draws crowds from all over the country
for food and festivities.
White asparagus thrives in loose, sandy soil
like the type found around Beelitz.
Narrator: Jürgen Jakobs and his brother Josef
harvest about 1.5 million kilograms of asparagus per year
on their 618 acres of farmland.
Although they do grow green asparagus,
over 90% of their crop is the more valuable white variety.
Since green asparagus and white asparagus
are actually the same plant,
the color it will become depends entirely
on how it's raised.
Once an asparagus stalk pops out of the ground,
it's exposed to the sun and produces chlorophyll.
The tip will initially turn slightly purple
and then green with more exposure.
The trick to keeping it white
is letting the plant grow as large as possible underground.
Then, once it emerges from the earth,
farmers must harvest it
before it has a chance to turn green.
To accomplish this,
they build mounds of dirt around the asparagus
and then cover the rows of crops in these foil tarps.
The foil reflects the sunlight away from the plant
and helps prevent the coloration of the stalks.
It also helps maintain the temperature
of the plants underground, which means that
Jürgen's farm can control the asparagus yield
based on current demand and weather.
Narrator: And demand soars in the spring.
The official asparagus season starts in mid-April
and ends around June 24th,
the feast day of St. John the Baptist.
And the strict June cutoff date is crucial
to the future of the crop.
Narrator: Each asparagus stem produces about 15 shoots
over the course of three months.
Since asparagus is a perennial crop,
the same plant will continue to produce stalks
for eight to 10 years.
Once the white asparagus heads appear through the mound,
each stalk is removed carefully one at a time
using a special asparagus knife called a spargelstecher.
The trick is to put two fingers into the soil
to find the stalk, insert the knife,
and pluck it at just the right spot
so you don't destroy the crown or roots.
While much of the harvesting is done by hand,
Jürgen says the farm has automated
some of the processes over time to increase production.
Narrator: Today, instead of the asparagus basket,
there are harvesting aids.
The harvesting aids drive battery-powered over the field.
Narrator: The harvested asparagus
is immediately brought inside for cleaning and sorting.
And speed is crucial, since white asparagus
will begin to spoil only about 10 days after harvesting.
Narrator: Workers sort the asparagus by quality.
The most expensive spargel is pure white,
perfectly straight, and thick.
But some might have purple color to them,
a thinner stalk, or a curved shape,
which can decrease the price by several euros.
Any asparagus that doesn't make the cut
will return to the farm for use as compost.
The spargel that passes the quality checks
can be sold locally
for anywhere from 6 to 10 euros per kilogram,
depending on the year.
It's also shipped abroad,
where export prices can exceed that range
due to the spargel's short shelf life
and the speed required in shipping.
That's how it ends up
in restaurant kitchens around the world, like Erwin's.
Unlike green asparagus,
white asparagus must be peeled before it can be eaten,
since the long time spent underground
causes it to develop a tough, thick outer layer.
A case like this, it will take me six to seven minutes.
There are 42 to 48 asparagus in there.
Depends on size.
And then you just tack, tack, tack, tack, tack.
It just goes.
And the skin is flying off.
Narrator: White asparagus is also typically boiled
in its own stock, made from these peeled skins.
Erwin: Two lemons is perfect for my pot here,
and I just put this into the water,
and we have some salt.
That's all we need here to get the water going.
Narrator: The ends of stalks are also snapped off.
Erwin: Beautiful.
[stalk snaps]
Ah, that was a good one.
Narrator: And then trimmed to a uniform length
before being placed in the stock
and boiled for about 10 minutes.
Erwin: And let them boil.
Narrator: Now they're ready for plating.
Erwin: Fine-dining restaurants in Europe,
when I did this,
we had very crisp still.
If you do this at home and you eat it right away,
you might want to go another two minutes.
Narrator: The most traditional dish,
and the most popular one at Cafe Katja,
is boiled asparagus smothered in hollandaise sauce
and served with a side of potatoes.
Erwin: Some parsley potatoes.
That's all I need.
There's nothing else I need for lunch or dinner.
I absolutely don't miss any proteins on this one.
There's definitely proteins in the egg in the hollandaise.
That's enough.
Narrator: He also serves a version
covered in lemon vinaigrette with prosciutto and croutons.
While demand for white asparagus is as strong as ever,
both in Europe and at restaurants abroad like Cafe Katja,
the industry hasn't been immune
to recent international crises.
During the COVID-19 pandemic,
seasonal workers at asparagus farms
weren't allowed to cross the border into Germany,
inciting fear of a spargel shortage.
The German government was forced to pass an emergency bill
allowing them into the country.
And with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022,
rising utility costs and inflation led to European citizens
spending less on items like luxury vegetables.
Narrator: And at Cafe Katja, as the season draws to a close,
Erwin is already thinking about next year.
For me, cooking and preparing and peeling the asparagus,
actually, I'm looking forward to it every year.
And it's a little bit of meditation.
The skin is flying off.
We fly them in from Europe.
They are not shipped,
because their shelf life is not that long.
The asparagus, I really take pride of it,
because my asparagus menu, so far,
I have not seen anywhere in United States
who has such an extensive menu as we do.