The delicate flavour of this fleeting seasonal treat means it requires a deft touch in the kitchen, says our panel of stalk-fanciersWhat unexpected things can I make with asparagus? “The goal is to do as little as possible to it,” says Ben Lippett, author of How I Cook (published in September). “If you start dressing up asparagus with fancy cooking techniques, you lose its magic.” That’s not to say you should just boil the spears and be done with it, mind: “Try pairing them with relatively high-impact flavours, but nothing that will steal the show,” Lippett says. “Much as with a salad dressing, you want something with richness, fragrance, acidity and salinity.” Instead of a gribiche-style sauce, for example, sub in Kewpie (Japanese mayo), pickled ginger, chives, sesame seeds and frozen peas “to make a spoonable condiment”. Or cook asparagus chunks with lots of butter and a shot of water, then “finish with lemon and grapefruit segments, cracked hazelnuts and sheets of comté”.Asparagus recipes often lean towards salads, which is all well and good until the weather misses the spring memo. And, in that scenario, Sophie Wyburd, author of Tucking