Asparagus with Melted Butter or Hollandaise Sauce

Asparagus, a member of the lily family, was eaten i by the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, and was probably introduced to Britain - as were so many vegetables - by the Romans during their 400-year-long occupation. Thereafter, it wasn’t until the Elizabethan age that asparagus began to be grown again, but it was always a rare and special vegetable for a variety of reasons. An asparagus bed takes three or four years to establish, and although the shoots are available only from May to ea