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This time of year, you may get a couple of fiddlehead ferns (which do grow locally) and some pretty lettuces at your local produce stand. If you’re lucky and you know a couple of farmers, you’ll get over-wintered spinach, which is the best and most flavorful. May also brings one of the real local glories: asparagus.

While there is quality asparagus grown in all parts of our state, I have pretty strong feelings about asparagus from the sandy dirt of the Eastern shore. It is naturally raised and as good a quality as any grown in the United States. I find it as flavorful as any I’ve had in France or Italy. Every year, it is long gone by July 4th, and I miss it.

How you use asparagus can be as varied as the weather is this time of year. It works well formally, or as a cold preparation, as part of a starch course (i.e. asparagus risotto, tagliolini with asparagus and morels, etc.) or as a simple lunch plate or light supper. Asparagus is also such a particular and strong flavor that I feel wholeheartedly it should be the dominant element of any dish. Here is one of my favorite recipes from Cindy Wolf to try:

Yields 6 servings

2 bunches of fresh asparagus, washed and roughly chopped

1 medium white onion, finely diced

2 tablespoons of butter

2 cups of chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt & pepper to taste

Goat’s cheese to garnish

Directions

1. In large saucepan, sauté onion in butter for five minutes on medium heat.

2. Add asparagus and chicken stock to pan. Simmer 20 minutes uncovered until asparagus is very tender.

3. Remove from heat and add heavy cream, salt, and pepper.

4. Puree soup in blender until very smooth.

5. Pour pureed soup through a fine sieve.

(Soup can be made up to one day ahead of time and kept covered and chilled. Reheat over low heat to serve.)

To serve

1. Ladle soup in equal portions into six shallow soup bowls.

2. Garnish with approximately one tablespoon of goat’s cheese just prior to serving.

Pairing wine with asparagus is truly difficult. It is always deadly for red wines as the veggie tastes like itself, but so does the wine: vegetal and green, which are pretty displeasing red wine characteristics.

Soave is the win-win match for asparagus; both the wine and the vegetable will be more lively versions of themselves when together and the balance is appropriate. Nothing is dominant. Great houses to know that make very good Soave: Pra, Gini, and Pieropan, just to name a few. All styles are different. Pra is more opulent, Pieropan is more firm and mineral. Gini has a fresher presence. The entry-level wines from these estates are excellent and not expensive. You might also try a few obscure wines from other places: Godello from Galicia in Spain, Tocai Friulano from Friuli. I will note the classic French match is Sancerre, although this has never worked for me. You’re better off with Pinot Blanc from Alsace. Stay away from oaky whites. The vanilla flavor in oaky chardonnay for example is absurd when mixed with the strong flavor of asparagus.

Tony Foreman is the founder, co-owner and wine director of Charleston, Petit Louis Bistro, PAZO, and Cinghiale as well as the retail wine store BIN 604 Wine Sellers. Tony is both chef and sommelier, holding a Sommelier Certificate from the Colmar School in France. For more information visit thecharlestongrp.com.