Notes From the Recipe Tester: A Short Season for White Asparagus Denise Landis has been testing recipes for The New York Times for more than 20 years. She is also the author of "Dinner for Eight: 40 Great Dinner Party Menus for Friends and Family." She is @TheCooksCook on Twitter. Here, she explains how to prepare white asparagus, available only for a short time. As Elaine Sciolino writes in her Letter From Paris in this week's Dining section, many Americans aren't sure how to cook white asparagus, or why they would want to. I love fresh green asparagus, but it does have a slightly fibrous texture. White asparagus has a smoother, crisper interior, with a gentle flavor and none of the bitterness that the green can have. It's a nice vehicle to showcase delicate sauces. But it's only available for a short while, so if you have any interest in trying it, now is the time. The woody stems of white asparagus have to be trimmed, just like with its green counterpart. And, unless the asparagus is freshly picked, the bottom half of the remaining stalk should be scraped with a vegetable peeler to remove the thin fibrous exterior and any small spikes on the sides. What you'll have then should be firm and white, possibly with pinkish tips. While you can gussy up white asparagus, like with Osetra caviar mousseline, as in this recipe I once tested, it can also be lapped with hollandaise, beurre blanc or browned butter, or served warm with mustardy mayonnaise or garlicky aioli. Browning or stir-frying white asparagus stalks would be a waste of its delicacy. Instead, steam them. Tie trimmed, peeled asparagus into a bundle with kitchen string, so the stalks will keep their shape and cook evenly. It's best to cook them upright in a tall narrow pot with a small amount of water; this lets the thicker stems cook faster than the narrow tips. But many excellent recipes call for boiling in salted water or roasting (sideways) just until tender. We all know that green asparagus turns grisly gray when overcooked. White asparagus won't change color as it is cooked, so you need to be attentive to timing; you'll be sorely disappointed if you overcook it. Test it by piercing with a knife, and remove it from the heat when it is just barely tender; it will continue to cook while you plate it. The recipe this week for white asparagus with cashew cream sauce is, honestly, the best I have yet encountered. Ground cashews are a perfect foil for the asparagus, offering complementary flavor and just enough coarseness to highlight the even texture of the asparagus. Finely julienned raw asparagus, slightly more than a garnish yet less than a salad, spiked with chives and olive oil, serves to emphasize the pleasing richness of white asparagus tips that have been roasted standing upright and basted in butter and their own juices. After I tested this recipe, I went back to the market for more white asparagus and made it again for a dinner party, where it received a round of applause. A week later, with white asparagus still on my mind, I decided to go back for more, but it was already gone.