The festive dish par excellence – when asparagus season becomes a celebration
Wine with food in its most festive form: white asparagus with poached lobster and Maltaise sauce is not an everyday recipe, but an occasion. The Maltaise sauce – a hollandaise refined with the juice and zest of blood-orange Maltese oranges – has a fruity sweetness and delicate acidity that elevates the classic buttery creaminess of hollandaise to a new aromatic dimension. The lobster, poached in an aromatic court bouillon, presents itself with an iodine-sweet seafood depth that places the highest demands on the wine companion. White asparagus with its fine bitterness and sweetness forms the foundation. Together, these three components call for a white wine of exceptional depth, minerality and body – and the Grüner Veltliner Ried Lamm from the Kamptal delivers just that.
Ideal wine pairing: Grüner Veltliner Ried Lamm DAC (Kamptal, Austria)
Ried Lamm in Langenlois is considered one of Austria’s great single vineyard sites – primary rock and loess, steep slopes, continental climate with hot days and cool nights. This vineyard produces a Grüner Veltliner that takes all the characteristics of its grape variety to the extreme: the white pepper is more precise and deeper, the fruit of ripe peach and quince more lush, the minerality more serious and lasting. On the palate, it shows a fullness that does justice to the lobster and an acidity of elegant tension that brightens up the Maltaise sauce and brings its orange aromas to the fore. The site character – this interplay of primary rock and loess – gives it a depth that lingers in the glass for a long time. A single-vineyard wine for a single-vineyard dish: both have provenance, both have history.
Further wine recommendations for this dish
Grüner Veltliner Smaragd DAC (Wachau, Austria)
The Smaragd from the Wachau is the closest Austrian brother: somewhat more accessible than the Lagen-Veltliner from the Kamptal, but of similar richness and power. Ripe peach and quince aromas, white pepper and a taut minerality – all this goes well with lobster and Maltaise sauce. For all those who know and love the style of Grüner Veltliner.
Chablis Premier Cru AOC (Burgundy, France)
The chalky minerality and sea-salty freshness of Chablis Premier Cru are hard to beat for iodized seafood dishes. Its cutting acidity cuts the sauce Maltaise like a scalpel – precise, clarifying, invigorating. For all those who would rather look to Burgundy than Austria for a festive asparagus and lobster dish.
Pinot Blanc Grosses Gewächs (Palatinate, Germany)
The Palatinate at the highest level: A Grosses Gewächs from one of the renowned Erste Lagen vineyards brings a complexity and depth worthy of a festive dish like this. Creamy texture, ripe fruit, hazelnut and precise acidity – everything the lobster and Maltaise sauce demand. For anyone who wants a top German wine in their glass for an asparagus and lobster dinner.
Montrachet AOC (Burgundy, France)
The greatest of the great – if budget and occasion allow: a white wine from Montrachet or its Premier Cru neighbors (Puligny, Chassagne) brings an opulence, depth and length that lifts the dish into another dimension. Butter, hazelnut, white peach, vanilla and a minerality that makes you want to drink it like spring water – this Chardonnay and the lobster speak the same language of luxury products.
Pinot Gris Grand Cru AOC Alsace (Alsace, France)
From a Grand Cru vineyard in Alsace comes a Pinot Gris of enormous opulence: candied orange, ginger, ripe peach and a hint of smoke. This palette of flavors meets the Sauce Maltaise on a direct, fruity level – orange to orange, melt to melt. For all those who want the wine to be an equal player on the table at a lobster and asparagus feast.
You can find a complete overview of all asparagus recipes and their wine pairings on the asparagus and wine overview page.
The recipe:
White asparagus with poached lobster and Maltaise sauce
Cooking utensils
- 1 Large pot (for the lobster and court bouillon)
- 1 Large pot for the asparagus
- 1 Small saucepan (for the Maltaise sauce)
- 1 Economy peeler
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Zest grater
- 1 Juicer or lemon squeezer
Ingredients
- 800 g white asparagus
- 2 live lobsters approx. 500 g each or 2 lobster tails (frozen, defrosted)
- 1 tsp sugar for the asparagus water
FOR THE COURT-BOUILLON:
- 2 l Water
- 200 ml dry white wine
- 1 Bay leaf
- 5 Peppercorns
- 1 Shallot halved
- 1 sprig of thyme
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 Tbsp salt
FOR THE MALTAISE SAUCE:
- 3 Egg yolk
- 200 g clarified butter Clarified butter, warm
- Juice and zest of 2 blood oranges alternatively normal oranges
- Juice of half a lemon
- Salt white pepper
- 1 Pinch of cayenne pepper
Preparation
PREPARATION:
- Bring all the ingredients for the court bouillon to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Clarify the butter: melt slowly, skim off the foam, pour through a fine sieve.
- Peel the asparagus and cut off the woody ends.
- Squeeze the blood oranges and keep the zest separate.
COOKING STEPS:
- Allow the court bouillon to cool to 80 °C.
- Place the lobster (or lobster tails) in the court bouillon and poach gently at 80 °C.
- Whole lobsters: 12-14 minutes. Lobster tails: 8-10 minutes.
- Remove the lobster, leave to rest for 5 minutes, then break open and remove the meat.
- Cook the asparagus in salted water with sugar at 85-90 °C for 12-15 minutes.
- For the Maltaise sauce: Whisk the egg yolks with a splash of blood orange juice over a bain-marie until the mixture is creamy and thick.
- Stir in warm clarified butter drop by drop, then in a thin stream – like mayonnaise.
- Stir in the blood orange and lemon juice, season with salt, pepper and cayenne.
- Keep the sauce warm, but do not boil.
DIRECTIONS:
- Serve the asparagus on warmed large plates.
- Arrange the lobster meat (tail in medallions, claws whole) on the asparagus.
- Generously pour in the Maltaise sauce.
- Garnish with blood orange zest and fresh chervil leaves.
SUPPLEMENTS:
- New potatoes in May butter with sea salt
- Steamed spinach leaves with nutmeg
- Brioche slices, lightly toasted
