Chilled Asparagus Troisgros-Savoy

In the springtime, we can’t get enough asparagus (yep, call us old-fashioned, but we like to stick to the seasons produce-wise). Usually by summertime, we’ve pretty much OD’d.

But recently we stumbled upon a new (to us!) way to serve it that’s absolutely dreamy on a sweltering summer evening: Peeled, simmered, chilled and accompanied by maybe the best asparagus sauce we’ve ever had — also chilled.

We found inspiration for the duo in an old cookbook by superstar French chef Guy Savoy, called Simple French Recipes for the Home Cook. In fact, we found it in the first recipe in the book: Steamed Green Asparagus with Sauce Lauris. Lauris, Savoy explains in a sidebar, is a village in the Southeast of France known for its asparagus. Sauce Lauris — which Savoy makes using raw egg yolks, mustard, oil, crème fraîche, paprika and sherry vinegar — is one he learned to make back when he was an apprentice at the famed Troisgros Restaurant in Roanne, in the Loire Valley. Because Savoy’s method starts with basically making a mayonnaise (combining egg yolks with mustard, then whisking then slowly whisking in oil), our adaptation begins with mayo. Homemade is ideal, but even commercial mayo is good. And the better the sherry vinegar you have (we love the aged ones), the better the sauce will be.

READ: “Easy-to-make homemade mayo unlocks a world of French bistro and American classics”

We’ve sized this for two, but you can easily double or triple it for four or six.

Serves two.

Ingredients

1 pound asparagus, trimmed and bottom halves peeled

Salt