I remember my first experience with asparagus. Mum had just opened a can of them and thrown them into the mix for a tuna macaroni bake. At the time I thought they were delicious. Delicious in this dish, but there was no way I would eat a piece of soggy asparagus on its own. I thought that’s how asparagus came - in a can, in brine, all olive green looking.

Then years later, I came upon a bunch of fresh, crispy, bright green asparagus sitting happily in the market, screaming for me to pick it up. Pick it up I did. I had been reading a cookbook and there in the vegetable chapter was a short discourse on the merits of fresh asparagus and how to treat this elegant slender stem.

I got my bundle of joy home, broke off the woody ends - just how I was told - heated the BBQ and threw them on the grill. A few minutes later after turning them and getting the black grill stripes all over them, I arranged them on a plate, drizzled the best extra virgin olive oil I could find all over them and scattered sea salt to finish. I then picked up one from the end with my fingers, tilted my head back and bit the top off. The result? An explosion of flavour like nothing I had ever experienced before.

I went on to discover that asparagus loves being wrapped in proscuitto and grilled, loves being paired with warm ham and hollandaise sauce, loves being chopped up quickly fried with some other great greens, garlic and cherry tomatoes and then thrown through some pasta, finally topped with slithers of the best fresh parmesan cheese.

Asparagus loves being steamed, plunged into a ice bath and then added to salad ‘stuff’, maybe with a lovely creamy goats cheese and drizzled with either fresh lemon juice and evoo or a feisty vinaigrette. Yum!!!

Get down to the market grab a bunch of asparagus and have a go. You will be soooo happy you did!