Asparation is a trademark name (Sanbon, Inc.) for broccolini. Broccolini is a green vegetable originally developed by the Sakata Seed company of Yokohama, Japan. The vegetable is a cross between broccoli and Chinese kale. As with any green it can be steamed, stir-fried and even grilled. The Sanbon company suggests using it for tempura. In 1998 the Mann Packing Company partnered with Sakata and marketed the product as Broccollini. In 1999 the term Broccolini was trademarked to the Perfection Fresh company in Australia.
Broccolini can be roasted with a little olive oil and some chopped or sliced garlic, or pan sauteed. You can steam it or microwave it. I prefer roasting or the pan sautee method. After roasting you can sprinkle it with some fresh ground pepper and a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
These names start getting really confusing. We have seen the same vegetable (broccolini) marketed under several names including Asparation (the original) then broccolini and now baby broccoli and sweet baby broccoli. To further the confusion I've seen baby broccoli referred to young, immature broccoli which is not the same thing as broccolini. You can read more about this immature baby broccoli here.
I purchased the product below in February, 2017 and it was sold under the name Sweet Baby Broccoli. This product seems to typically be longer stemmed than the variety marketed under the Asparation name.
There are many growers that sell this product under the name Sweet Baby Broccoli. This is a few notable growers.
Sweet Baby Broccoli seed can be purchased at UFSeeds.com and are marketed under the name Asparbroc Baby Broccoli.
There is also a seller on Amazon.com that sells Sweet Baby Broccoli Seed.