It's a sunny morning in Schwetzingen when a woman at a market stall rubs two thick stalks of white asparagus against each other.
"If it's really fresh," she's telling her customers, "the asparagus stalks should squeak when you do this."
I'm holding a small carton of strawberries, but I can see it's the boxes and bags of "spargel" (asparagus) displayed in all shapes and sizes that everyone else seems to be lining up for. Even more so when we all hear the "squeak" signifying that oh, yeah, the asparagus sold here is very fresh.
This is springtime in the German federal state of Baden-Wurttemberg. Forget beer and brats, pork and potatoes. Starting here in mid-April, Germans begin celebrating the country's favorite vegetable: white asparagus. During a visit last May, I discovered the reason for the hoopla — along with a sunshine-filled region that was bursting with blooms, charm and history.
Centered in Schwetzingen, the self-proclaimed "Asparagus Capital of the World," the Baden Asparagus Route is roughly an 85-mile route through several small towns in southwest Germany (Lower Saxony in northwest Germany is another famous asparagus area). But I hadn't traveled this far only to indulge in a vegetable, albeit a delicious one. My trip itinerary was a mixed menu of highlights in this part of the country I had not visited before. Besides checking out the "royal vegetable," I hoped to see some palaces, sip local wine, sample Black Forest schnapps and taste the region's other specialty: the Kirsch-drenched cherry and cream confection known as Black Forest cake.
Considered the gateway to the Black Forest, Baden-Baden was my first stop. Undamaged during both world wars, the beautiful city has been a spa destination for some 2,000 years, famous for its curative thermal springs. But its popularity didn't boom until the early 19th century when Europe's aristocracy began flocking there to steep their weary rich bodies in its healing pools.
A soak was certainly on my agenda, but so was a visit to the city's landmark Café Konig, which I'd heard was renowned for its Black Forest cake.
The patio adjacent to the shop was a scene from an old romantic movie. Sunlight fell through the branches of a huge chestnut tree and landed on tables, where plates of desserts sparkled enticingly and people smiled as they dug into cakes and tarts.