🇩🇪 ASPARAGUS + SAUCE ARACHIDE 🇨🇮

Welcome back to Flavours of the World Cup, where I’m cooking my way through the tournament one game at a time ⚽️

One of my favourite parts of this series so far is discovering ingredients I’d never usually put together. This fixture might be the best example yet…

Germany is famous for Spargel - white asparagus so beloved that asparagus season has its own name: Spargelzeit. It’s often referred to as “white gold”! 🌟

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any white asparagus here in the UK, so I used British green asparagus while it’s in season.

For the Ivorian side of the dish, I took inspiration from sauce arachide - a rich peanut sauce found across West Africa and particularly important in Côte d’Ivoire. To bring the two countries together, I added a little curry powder to the sauce as a nod to Germany’s famous currywurst.

The combination sounds unusual but worked brilliantly. And honestly WOW, sauce Arachide - peanutty, tomatoey, and so wonderfully silky 🤤

• 1 small brown onion, finely diced

• 1 tbsp curry powder

• 2 tbsp tomato paste

• 2-3 GENEROUS tbsp (crunchy) peanut butter

• 100ml hot vegetable stock

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar (optional)

• 1 large bunch asparagus

• Salt, pepper + olive oil

• 1-2 spring onions, finely sliced

• Small handful toasted peanuts, roughly chopped

• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

1. Warm a splash of oil in a frying pan on a medium-high heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt + fry for 3-5 minutes until softened.

2. Add the curry powder + cook out for 1-2 minutes before adding your tomato paste. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.

3. Stir in peanut butter, cooking out for another minute or two, then gradually stir in the vegetable stock + gently bubble away until slightly thickened. Season to taste with salt, pepper + a splash of vinegar.

4. To cook the asparagus, cut off the woody ends, then season well with salt, pepper + olive oil. Preheat a grill or griddle pan, then once smoking, griddle for 3-5 minutes on each side until nicely charred.

5. Spread the arachide sauce onto the base of a plate or platter. Place the asparagus on top, then garnish with spring onions, peanuts and red pepper flakes.

🇩🇪 Germany have won the World Cup four times, although they failed to progress beyond the group stage at the last two tournaments.

🇨🇮 Known as Les Éléphants, Ivory Coast are returning to the World Cup after a 12-year absence. Their golden generation included Didier Drogba and Yaya Touré.

For the full recipe video, score predictions + dish rating, head over to my socials.

Next up: Tunisia 🇹🇳 vs Japan 🇯🇵 - you do NOT want to miss it.

Speak soon,

Alfie x