Asparagus season is all but over where I live in California, but it's just getting into full swing for many of you. Here's a tip I learned this spring: when it comes to picking the best asparagus, size doesn't matter at all.
There's a common belief among asparagus lovers, which I myself held true for years, that thin asparagus is tender while thick asparagus is woody and tough. It seemed to make sense, at least visually. And if I happened to get a thick spear of asparagus that was surprisingly tender, I just raised my eyebrows and thought it a lucky accident.
But as Lynne Rossetto Kasper informed listeners during a recent episode of The Splendid Table, thickness is actually just a sign of the age of the crown, or the root bed, of the asparagus. If it's a very young crown, the spears will be thin. If the crown is older by a few years, you'll get thicker spears. And here's the thing: those fat spears are just as tender and tasty as the thin ones. (Trust me, I ate a lot of asparagus this spring.)
Of course, this is all assuming that you've found freshly-picked asparagus. You can tell by looking at the tips and the cut-ends of the spears. If the tops are closed tight and the bottoms still juicy, then the asparagus is fresh. If you notice the top flowering open or the bottoms very dry, that's a sign that the asparagus has started losing moisture and is past its prime.
• Hear the Full Episode! The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper: May 28, 2011
Do you find any difference between thick and thin spears of asparagus?
Related: Asparagus Season! A Gallery of 20 Ideas, Tips, and Recipes
(Images: Nina Callaway and Emma Christensen)
Soda Recipe: Homemade Ginger Ale
Recipe: Spring Fruit and Nut Tabouli
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
TW Salt Mill by Wil...
The Ultimate Used Furniture Cleaning Kit
Ana Creates a Community at Home
Great post! Thanks for the info. I didn't know that about asparagus.
I am partial to thicker asparagus. When you get them home from the market, cut off about an inch off the bottom and stand them up in a container of water. Cover loosely with a plastic bag with some vents cut in it and they will keep in the frig for several more days. Just treat them like you would any fresh flower.
Great advice and it's what I've found as well. Another thing that I was taught while picking from the family farm, was to avoid asparagus that's going to flower (i.e.: http://www.cci-fed.org.lb/ContentPhotos/Photos/Asparagus-Flower%20Initiation_065428.gif). The top part of the asparagus should be tight, clean, free from any softness, rotting, or flowering.
@ccp mbd - I do that with green onions and some herbs, but I've never thought to do it with asparagus before - thanks for the tip! And sometimes I'll even set them out on tables & counters like bouquets :)
Really? I've found there's a bit of truth to that belief. I have had some great, tender thicker asparagus but I've also had some that was quite tough that require a lot more to be trimmed from the bottom. I've never had the problem with thinner asparagus. You can usually tell by looking at the stalks if they'll be tough though.
My preference tends to go along with the style of the meal. For fancier affairs, I like the delicacy of the thin stalks but for rustic dishes I like the 'meatiness' of the thick ones.
I like my roasted asparagus CRUNCHY so for that, thin is in! :)
thick or thin does matter when you mix the two however, since the thin cooks so much faster than the thick. This is less apparent with boiling, but with grilling or roasting it makes a huge difference.
I'm partial to the thin ones. They don't require peeling and take less time to cook.