Rachel Roddy

Asparagus is an annual springtime ritual, and this soup is a thrifty and wholesome way to celebrate it

According to the Guinness World Record’s official website, 351.7cm was the length of the asparagus presented by Harry and Carson Willemse at the Port Elgin Pumpkinfest in Ontario, Canada, on 2 October 2004. Sadly, however, the Pumpkinfest’s own archives hold only the records of master growers and weigh-offs dating back to 2017, and are almost entirely pumpkin-related. Gardening websites and Pinterest, however, offer more insight into how asparagus, left unpicked, quite quickly reaches 6ft and develops branches and soft, feathery foliage. I assume Harry and Carson must have pulled away the ferns in order for their spears to grow to 3½m, which is a metre more than the average UK ceiling and almost the same length as a Mini Cooper, and the equivalent of 16-20 average-length spears laid across the kitchen floor.

A melt-in-the-mouth dish of fried tenderised chicken in a mushroom and sweet wine sauce

The term escalope is borrowed from the old French escalope, meaning “shell or carapace”, which is likely to be borrowed from the old Norse skalpr (“sheath”) or Middle Dutch schelpe (“shell”). This explains the shape, and why the word evolved to describe a slice of meat that has been pounded until it’s the same slimness all over.