Growing asparagus in Switzerland is rather difficult, since planting asparagus beds on mountainsides is not easily done. So the asparagus consumed there, mainly comes from elsewhere, including the Dutch province of Limburg. Top chef René Brienen of restaurant Brienen aan de Maas in Well will cook asparagus from Limburg for the fourth year in a row next week for the guests of renowned Hostellerie Am Schwarzsee, near Lake Geneva. This year he is accompanied by Luc Kusters from Limburg, owner/chef of restaurant Bolenius in Amsterdam, which got an award for the best asparagus lunch in the Netherlands last year, and Hein Willemsen, who is allowed the title of master chef, like his two colleagues.
Luc Kusters, René Brienen and Hein Verbruggen (left to right) are looking forward to the asparagus trip to the Alps
Proprietor Peter Roodbeen of Hostellerie am Schwarzsee has made various headlines in Swiss newspapers in the past years, with his 'Spargel-Wochenend mit Holländischer Chef René Brienen'. 'It actually started as a bit of a joke. When I'm in the Netherlands to visit my parents, we sometimes eat at René Brienen's, and when I jokingly asked him when he would come and cook that delicious asparagus in Switzerland, he actually ended up doing just that,' he says, laughing.
From the start, Peter Roodbeen's initiative has been so well-received by his regular Swiss guests, that they started asking in October whether 'der Limburger Chef' will come to cook asparagus again in April. So what is it that makes asparagus so special for the Swiss? 'A lot less asparagus is consumed anyway in Switzerland than in the Netherlands, and then it's mostly green asparagus. The white asparagus that's so well-known in the Netherlands, isn't seen very much here, and the dishes René cooks with them, aren't known at all here,' says Peter Roodbeen.
Expedition
The three master chefs are now in the middle of preparing for their 'asparagus expedition'. The guests who have booked for the asparagus arrangement in the Hostellerie, will receive a gastronomic six-course menu, featuring asparagus in every course. 'Of course that requires preparation, so we leave nothing to chance, taking not only super fresh asparagus from the Netherlands, but also most of the other ingredients,' says René Brienen. Like Hein Willemsen, who accompanied him last year, he knows what to expect, but for Luc Kusters it will be the first introduction to a Swiss audience. 'Well, we both received an award for the best asparagus restaurant in the Netherlands already, so I'm not worried,' Kusters says.
The asparagus weekend in Hostellerie Am Schwarzsee takes place on April 17 and 18. On April 19, the three master chefs will once again be in their kitchens in the Netherlands.