You’ve seen them in the market, the long rosy-hued stalks of
rhubarb. They are so fresh and appealing, but a bit unfamiliar, a bit
old-fashioned. They look like something
that requires a lot of work and complicated recipes to make edible.
A perennial vegetable, rhubarb has stalks that look like celery
but with large, crinkly, spinach-like leaves.
And like spinach those leaves contain oxalic acid, so much oxalic acid that
the leaves are considered highly toxic and should never, ever be eaten. The crisp and juicy stalks, however, in
lovely shades of green, pink, or ruby red, are a tangy treat when eaten raw or
cooked.
Because it grows to be a fairly large plant that will come
back year after year, rhubarb needs plenty of space where it can grow
undisturbed for the several years it needs to become established. At Green
Gate Farm we planted our rhubarb in the deep but narrow areas of soil between
strips of outcropping limestone. It has
been growing happily in the well composted ground for three years, and this
year, at last, we can begin to harvest and enjoy it.
The flavor of rhubarb is a bit elusive, sometimes described as
berrylike, but earthier. Really, it is
completely unique. If you like tart and crunchy fruit, try the stalks raw,
dipped in brown sugar. For rhubarb
compote, crisp, or pie, cook up a batch sweetened with a bit of sugar or honey.
It will be more than a sweet treat, for rhubarb boasts sweet nutritional benefits.
From just one cup of diced rhubarb you
can get 10% of your daily requirement for potassium, 8% of dietary fiber, 10%
calcium, and 16% for both Vitamin K and Vitamin C. In Great Britain, during the lean years of World
War II, the growing of nutritious rhubarb was strongly encouraged, and the
government actually controlled rhubarb prices to keep them low enough for all
citizens to have access to it as a reliable local source of Vitamin C.
Though the stalks can be harvested all throughout the growing season, it is in May and June, when strawberries (rhubarb’s favorite desert companion)
are in season, that rhubarb appears at the markets in abundance. So let yourself be tempted and take home a pound or two. After 10 minutes of prep and 15 minutes of cooking, you'll be on your way to rhubarb heaven!
Preparing rhubarb:
Harvesting rhubarb is as simple as grasping a stalk as
low as possible and giving a twist to release it.
It is recommended that several stalks be left untouched
on each plant. This way the plant can
continue growing and photosynthesizing enough to nourish the plant for next
year’s growth.
Cut off the poisonous leaves and store the stalks in the
fridge until you are ready to use them. If you can’t get to it right away, rhubarb
is easily frozen. Trim the root end a
bit, then wash and dry the stalks, stripping off any loose stringy fibers. Cut the stalks into one or two inch sections
and pack these into freezer bags or boxes.
That’s it!
Cooking rhubarb is almost as simple. Either stew freshly
cut, trimmed, and washed rhubarb with a bit of sugar until it is soft (about 8
to 10 minutes), or roast it with sugar in a foil covered baking dish at 400
degrees for about 15 minutes. For either
method we use about ½ cup of sugar for a pound of rhubarb, which is about 3 to
4 cups.
Rhubarb is complemented by so many things - strawberries, of course, but you can combine it with or apples, or orange zest, or with ginger as the British do. Once you start riffing on rhubarb, in pies, cakes, trifles, and tarts, sauces, smoothies or cocktails, you'll be singing the old Monty Python tune - read all the existential philosophers, like Schopenhauer and Jean-Paul Sartre, even Martin Heidegger agreed on one thing - eternal happiness is rhubarb tart!
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Great rhubarb links:
http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/rhubarb
http://www.saveur.com/gallery/Best-Rhubarb-Recipes
http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/recipes
Images thanks to wikimedia commons.
