aquafaba 'mayo' and asparagus.

I was first introduced to the notion of aquafaba a few weeks ago via Kellie and her lovely blog food to glow.

A trawl through the dusty filing cabinet of my mind should have taken me back numerous decades to a former self : a schoolgirl in brown uniform, a hot, stuffy classroom and Latin lessons, for the term aquafaba is from the Latin words for water and bean.

It is a word coined by an American software engineer named Goose Wohlt, who just about a year ago discovered that the thick gloopy liquid from a can a chickpeas - the stuff that is usually unceremoniously tipped down the sink - can be whipped up to make an excellent vegan alternative to egg white.

I know! 

It sounds totally unlikely, so I had to have a go!

 And it is indeed true.

I based my 'mayo' on Kellie's recipe (see link above) but used a mixture of sunflower and olive oil and chives instead of garlic.

It turns out that aquafaba mayo is totally delicious!

The consistency of my 'mayo' was pourable rather than spoonable, more akin to a hollandaise sauce and made a lovely summery accompaniment to some lightly steamed asparagus.

So if you are unable to eat eggs or more specifically, raw egg white or simply have a yearning for home- made mayo but are completely out of eggs, then aquafaba is the way to go.

And on the subject of asparagus, the glorious moment when the first British asparagus arrives in the shops for its short but delectable season always prompts me to think that maybe I should try growing some on the lottie. On a little stroll yesterday evening around the allotment site, we only found one plot ( out of about 90 ) where asparagus was being grown.

Maybe the fact that a fairly large amount of space has to be dedicated to its cultivation for only a short term return discourages people from growing it. 

But like strawberries, the first asparagus heralds the arrival of early summer and the weather at the moment, in this little corner of the fens, is just gorgeous!

Happy weekend everyone.

annjenny x

• p.s. If you are interested, there is an official aquafaba website and even an aquafaba facebook page.
• pps. Aquafaba can also be used to make chocolate mousse, meringues and waffles amongst other things, bit I have yet to try these!

News Flash ..... I found that after a couple of hours in the fridge the mayo had thickened up and mr digandweed loved it!