It’s springtime in Germany and people are obsessing about white asparagus

BEELITZ, Germany (AP) — Asparagus season has arrived in Germany, signaling the unofficial beginning of springtime.

There is no other vegetable that Germans obsess about as much as white asparagus. They can discuss for hours whether it should be eaten with melted butter or Hollandaise sauce, served with smoked ham or schnitzel, or should come with a side of potatoes boiled whole or peeled, cut into slices and fried with bacon and onion.

There's also some debate over whether you can eat the shoots with your fingers or only with a fork and knife — though traditional etiquette clearly states that using your fingers is no violation of good manners as long as you dip and clean them in a little bowl of warm water.

The only thing Germans can agree on when it comes to their favorite veggie is that green asparagus comes nowhere close to its white companion and may as well be snubbed or ignored.

“White asparagus is definitely more delicate in taste," said Sven Sperling, 54, who was enjoying his first dish of the year at the Jakobs-Hof asparagus restaurant in Beelitz, just outside of Berlin. "It's something very special. It’s not possible to compare it to green asparagus.”

Beelitz is one of the most famous asparagus-growing regions in the country. The farmers in the town, which is located 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of the German capital, make a good living off the “white gold” as the vegetable is sometimes called — a nod not just to its color but also its steep price. At the beginning of the season in early April it sells for up to 20 euros per kilo ($22 for two pounds).

By the end of the season in June the price tag for asparagus can go down to 10 euros per kilo — but nonetheless Spargel, as it is called in German, will not lose its air of luxury throughout the entire season.

For Germans, white asparagus is much more than just food, it's a way of life, says Jürgen Jakobs, who runs the Jakobs-Hof restaurant, a farmers store, and grows the vegetable on 25 hectares of land — about the size of 300 soccer fields.

“Eating asparagus is a celebration,” Jakobs said in a recent interview with The Associated Press as he looked over his seemingly endless fields where Romanian workers were cutting the shoots out of the ground manually.

“Asparagus is the first vegetable of spring. Asparagus is served on holidays: Easter, Mother’s Day, Whitsun,” he said. “Usually family or friends are called over and the table is set festively.”

The passion for the delicacy is legendary in Europe. The ancient Romans considered the vegetables an aphrodisiac and supposedly brought them to Central Europe. Here, the delicacy was initially only grown in monastery gardens and only the nobility was allowed to eat it in the Middle Ages.

It was only in the late 19th century that farmers started growing asparagus on fields and thus made it available to more people — nonetheless the vegetable still has a somewhat elitist reputation to this day.

The shoots like sandy ground, which gives them the unique sweet, almost nutty taste, said Jakobs, whose family has been cultivating the veggie for several generations.

White asparagus grows underground covered with plastic tarp — the moment it's touched by sunlight it turns violet, then green, and changes its flavor to a fuller, more bitter aroma.

Nobody eats more white asparagus than the Germans — each citizen devours about three pounds per year, which translated to a yearly harvest volume of 105,000 metric tons last year, according to the country's Federal Statistical Office.

Germans don't export white asparagus, they eat it all themselves, but they do import it from countries like Spain or Italy, which mainly grow it for export. The imported veggies are mostly sold in supermarkets and are less expensive than the homegrown ones — but also not as refined when it comes to the flavor, said Jakobs.

White asparagus is mostly steamed in water with one tablespoon of sugar and one tablespoon of salt and — unlike its green brother — it needs to be peeled before it's cooked. Asparagus has a social component as well, because traditionally, the women of the house would sit together for hours peeling many kilos of shoots, chatting and enjoying each other's company.

Nowadays, some high-end grocery stores sell the delicacies peeled already to shorten the preparation time. Health advocates praise the low amount of calories of the watery stalks that are normally a little longer and thicker than their green brethren.

However, at the end of the day nothing compares to the real, old-school experience, Sperling said, while he finished his plate with the veggies that had been freshly cut just a few hours earlier by Jakobs' team.

“Buying it fresh from the farm, peeling it yourself at home, and celebrating the preparation with the family at the weekend — it couldn’t be better,” he said, adding with a nostalgic smile that it simply tastes of “childhood memories.”

Workers harvest asparagus on a field near Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A farm worker suts white asparagus in a field near Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A plate with fresh white asparagus, ham, potatoes and melted butter is served at the Jakobs-Hof farm asparagus restaurant in Beelitz Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A farm worker washes white asparagus on a farm near Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Juergen Jakobs, who runs the Jakobs-Hof asparagus farm, smiles as he poses for a photo in an asparagus field near Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A farm worker sorts white asparagus at the Jakobs-Hof farm in Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Farm workers sort white asparagus on a farm near Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A farm worker cuts white asparagus in a field near Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Farm workers take a break from harvesting white asparagus in a field near Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Farm workers cut white asparagus in a field near Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

White asparagus is sorted at the Jacobs-Hof asparagus farm in Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A farm worker cuts white asparagus on a field near Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A farm worker cuts white asparagus in a field near Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A woman covers white asparagus plants with plastic to protect them against cold temperatures on a field near Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Workers cover white asparagus plants with plastic to protect them against cold temperatures on a field near Beelitz, Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A plate with fresh white asparagus, ham, potatoes and melted butter is served at the Jakobs-Hof farm asparagus restaurant in Beelitz Germany, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Days after a deadly shooting on their campus, Florida State University students who also survived a mass shooting in Parkland in 2018 sent a letter Monday to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis demanding he squash efforts to lower the firearm purchase age back to 18 years old.

The law that raised the minimum gun purchase age to 21 was passed as part of a gun reform package following the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which was one of the deadliest shootings in the country. For these former Parkland and current FSU students who sent the letter to the governor, this is their second school shooting.

One of the founders for March For Our Lives, a group formed following the shooting in Parkland, led a group of 28 students in writing the letter, calling it “unthinkable” and “dangerous” for the Legislature to consider changing the gun purchase age to 18. Jaclyn Corin said many of the students who demanded action in 2018 after the Parkland shooting are now FSU students who experienced tragedy again.

“There is no doubt that that law has saved lives over the past seven years, and so now it’s quite ironic that this is the very law that is being threatened in the aftermath of what is many of those same students who rose their voices, their second school shooting,” Corin said.

DeSantis and Republican lawmakers have backed the measure, saying that if a person is old enough to be in the military, they should be able to purchase a gun.

Despite having support from Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez, Senate President Ben Albritton has been more hesitant about the measure. In a conference with reporters in March, Albritton got emotional recounting his visit to the Parkland high school building where 17 people were killed. He said he is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, but that he has not made a decision on the measure.

Thursday's shooting at a university minutes away from the Florida Capitol may leave an uncertain future for the measure, since it has not yet been heard in the state Senate. The legislative session is scheduled to end next week.

“Rolling it back would dishonor the lives we lost in Parkland and Tallahassee, and amount to a slap in the face to survivors and to the countless lives that law has helped protect,” the letter sent Monday read. “It ignores the trauma we carry. And it sends a clear message to students: the state of Florida sees our lives as expendable.”

The shooter in Parkland was a 19-year-old. He is now serving life in prison.

On Thursday, a 20-year-old FSU student opened fire near the student union, using his deputy sheriff stepparent’s former service weapon. Two people were killed and six injured.

FILE - People attend a candlelight vigil for the victims of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla., Feb. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

FILE - Florida Gov. Ron De Santis speaks during a press conference on immigration enforcement, at Homestead Air Force Base, Feb. 26, 2025, in Homestead, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

FILE - People comfort each other as they sit and mourn at one of seventeen crosses, Feb. 15, 2018, after a candlelight vigil for the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)