On a Sunday last month, I was invited along to learn all about asparagus at Edgecombe Brothers Asparagus Master Class.
As we approached Edgecombe Brothers Winery, I was excited that the Asparagus Master Class setting was completely different from what I had pictured…
This is my view looking out to the lake as I enjoyed a latte and home-made Anzac biscuits on arrival…
Our Asparagus Master Class was run by the highly passionate Alfred Edgecombe (better referred to as “Alf”), one of the brothers who own Edgecombe Brothers Winery. It was really inspiring to hear how Alf and his brothers first started growing asparagus in the 1990s in his brother George’s backyard.
Now they have 2 hectares of asparagus and we got to see the fields first hand…
Armed with a knife, we each picked asparagus to take back for lunch. Back at Edgecombe Brothers Winery, as we enjoyed bread, cheese and wine. We trimmed the asparagus so that they were roughly the same length…
Alf explains that cooking asparagus al dente is just like cooking pasta. The asparagus is perfect when it’s not too hard but not too soft. He stood all the asparagus in a pot of boiling water for a couple of minutes and then pan fried it with Edgecombe Chilli Infused Oil.
Cooking the asparagus on this special BBQ reminds me of making homemade Italian tomato sauce in Uncle Paul’s Garage…
I must have been so focused on the asparagus cooking that I didn’t notice the boots featured on this BBQ until writing this blog post! Or maybe it was the wine we enjoyed with our freshly picked asparagus topped with parmesan cheese 🙂
Alf tells us that their asparagus has a 9 month growing season which starts in July and goes until April, with November being the prime time. Edgecombe Brothers Winery uses most of the asparagus they pick for their cafe, sells any surplus at Maggie Place and the rest outside their estate in the Swan Valley. His tip to keeping asparagus fresh for up to two weeks is to put them in water in the fridge.
For all the coffee, cheese, bread, wine and of course asparagus we ate this masterclass is value for money considering we spent half a day with Alf learning about asparagus. The other attendees included a foodie who bought her dad Edgecombe Brothers Asparagus Master Class as a Father’s Day present and the other attendees were tourists - Edgecombe Brothers Winery certainly showcased WA in a positive light!
To book an asparagus masterclass call Edgecombe Brothers on 9296 4307 between 11am and 4pm (Monday to Friday) or 9am to 4pm (Sat - Sun). It’s $55 per person weekdays or $70 per person on the weekend.
Read about more things to do in the Swan Valley here.
3 Comments