Teboza: asparagus from Will Teeuwen in Limburg

Who's behind it

Teboza is in Helden, in northern Limburg, on the light sandy soil where asparagus does well. The business was founded after World War II by Lodewijk Teeuwen. His son Math took over in 1969, and Will Teeuwen, the third generation, now runs it. For over eighty years it's all been about one crop.

Since 1976 they've grown their own asparagus plants, and since 2000 they've bred their own varieties. Besides their own growing, they supply planting stock and growing advice to other asparagus growers in the Netherlands and abroad. They know what a stem needs to come up sweet and straight.

Why this asparagus

With Teboza you're buying from someone who developed the variety, raised the plants and has known the plot for years. That's why the grading is consistent. White AA and AAA arrive as Class I, with even stems that cook evenly in the pan. Handy for a kitchen that cooks by thickness.

There's also their own Superior Queens, an organically grown variety from their own breeding, selected for flavour and shape.

Teboza now also grows outside the Netherlands, including in Spain, to stretch the season towards eight months a year. Will Teeuwen sources the early supply there because of gas prices for growing under glass in the Netherlands. The Limburg white remains the core.

In your kitchen

Put on the menu where the asparagus comes from and who grew it: "White asparagus from Helden, grown by Teboza". Choose by grade: AAA for the classic plate with sauce, where thickness and even cooking matter, and Superior Queens for raw or barely poached. Turn the peels and ends into a stock, so one delivery gives you two dishes.