Spargelzeit in Malaysia: German white asparagus on the Malaysian tables
DACHSER made it happen! A full house of diners enjoyed the white asparagus dishes at the Equatorial Hotel in central Kuala Lumpur, DACHSER brought the “white gold” all the way from its harvested place in Southern Germany to the Asian metropolis.
On Friday evening, June 14, a crowd of 100 guests gathered at the Equatorial Hotel in Kuala Lumpur for the annual event, Spargelzeit, organized by the Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce (MGCC). It was the time to taste the spring delicacy – white asparagus, which can only be harvested from April to June in Europe. Due to the short harvest period, the seasonal green is deemed as the “white gold” because of its scarcity, rich aroma and healthy nutrition value.
The journey from Germany to Malaysia
Being the title event partner of MGCC, DACHSER played an important role – to ensure the food would be on the table, in time and fresh. With the help of DACHSER European Logistics, the team at Karlsruhe Branch arranged pick-up of the white asparagus at its supplier in Southern Germany where the asparagus was harvested. A refrigerated truck kept the temperature most suitable for the sensitive produce at 1°C and headed straight to Frankfurt International Airport for its flight bounded for Asia. After a cross-continent flight, the shipment made a short transit at Hong Kong and off-loaded at Kuala Lumpur, being picked up with another refrigerated truck to its final destination, the kitchen of Equatorial Hotel, as the last leg of the journey.
"We are happy to handle the transportation of the asparagus, the cool chain worked perfectly all the way from Germany to Malaysia, without any delay. Most importantly, we have confirmation from Chef Kern that the product arrived in good quality,” said Daniel Pohl, Managing Director Air & Sea Logistics Malaysia, during his opening speech.
DACHSER Malaysia was glad to have the mission accomplished. The whole transport process required precise planning because it is a race against time, not only is the “white gold” sensitive to temperature but also it stays fresh only for a very short period of a few days.
Dishes on the table
Global Master Chef Jochen Kern turned the fresh white asparagus into a variety of mouthwatering dishes such as creamy asparagus soup, ham-wrapped asparagus and asparagus risotto.
“It is always a pleasure to cook my mother's favorite asparagus dishes, for the past 55 years there is not any transition in taste for this quality German vegetable. Cooking the white asparagus here in Malaysia awaken a superb childhood memory! Thank you DACHSER,” says Chef Kern.
During the splendid evening, the participants also tested their knowledge about the spear-shaped vegetable by playing the asparagus quiz at the DACHSER booth; while many others were happily networking and building relationships.