Technically, rhubarb is a vegetable but it is generally used as a fruit. In fact, following a 1947 customs court ruling, in the eyes of the US legal system it is defined as fruit. The edible part of rhubarb is the vegetable stalk of a large perennial herb (rheum rhabarbarum). The leaves are poisonous because they have high levels of oxalic acid which can damage kidneys if ingested in high levels. In the UK, 19th century improvements in cultivation techniques and the falling price of sugar resulted in a rhubarb boom between the world wars. This was the heyday of the rhubarb triangle, which still exists today - a concentration of forcing sheds in an area between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell.
Of course, you can quite easily grow rhubarb in your garden or in a pot and I know that several of our members have plants. One of the great things about rhubarb is that its available pretty well all year round in the UK, with the forced rhubarb growing from late December to March and field grown from April to September. Traditionally, we tend to think of rhubarb as an ingredient for desserts, notably the inimitable rhubarb crumble, but it is also a great accompaniment to pork, lamb or oily fish, such as mackerel.
Do you like rhubarb? If so, how do you use it?
Mature plants of at least a couple of years old are 'forced' by being lifted from the soil late in the year and grown on inside warm, dark sheds where they send out bright pink, tender stalks with pale green or yellow leaves. Traditionally the harvest tales place by candlelight, and when it's quiet in the forcing shed it's possible to hear the faint creaking noise made by the rhubarb as it grows.
Of course, you can quite easily grow rhubarb in your garden or in a pot and I know that several of our members have plants. One of the great things about rhubarb is that its available pretty well all year round in the UK, with the forced rhubarb growing from late December to March and field grown from April to September. Traditionally, we tend to think of rhubarb as an ingredient for desserts, notably the inimitable rhubarb crumble, but it is also a great accompaniment to pork, lamb or oily fish, such as mackerel.
Do you like rhubarb? If so, how do you use it?