Do you remember rhubarb as that shreddy stuff you had to eat in school during the spring? Is the annual rhubarb enthusiasm not something that you feel you can share? Let us try to help you along the way by giving you the rundown on rhubarb and discovering some interesting ways to use this zesty and healthful ingredient. Check out our old favorite Scandinavian dessert recipe for Hildur’s Rhubarb Pie.
Rehabilitating Rhubarb
It has juicy red stalks, leaves that look like the giant shell of a tortoise, and grows at a furious pace without any help whatsoever. Rhubarb seems a freak in the garden, not something that we should eat! In the film “A Streetcar Named Desire” Marlon Brando, the troublemaker, is described as “the one that’s making all the rhubarb”.
The truth is that rhubarb isn’t troublesome at all. It tends to grow out in the corners of the garden – around the compost, if you have one - and therefore doesn’t interfere with the rest of the garden/farm. Its troublesome reputation may stem from a poisonous substance, oxalic acid, concentrated in its leaves. Still, this is not reasonable grounds for relegating rhubarb to the weed heap. The stems have very small concentrations of oxalic acid (not dangerous to most people) and a decoct of the leaves (remaining liquid when the leaves are simmered in water for a few minutes) can in fact work wonders when it comes to getting rid of certain garden pests such as greenfly, whitefly and blackfly. Oxalic-acid-free rhubarb varieties are being developed.
Rhubarb was first consumed as food in 17th century when Europeans cultivated an edible form and when refined sugar started becoming available. By this time, a more original form of rhubarb (a much larger plant than our edible garden rhubarb) had been used in China for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. The roots of rhubarb, consumed in very small quantities were used as an astringent (i.e. to treat diarrhea). Consumed in larger quantities it had the reverse effect, which is to say that it functioned as a mild laxative.
Innovation with Rhubarb
These days rhubarb is just one of those things that comes into our kitchens in the spring. Like all good ingredients, it is worth taking a moment to think about its flavor and consistency. What does it blend well with?
Rhubarb has a bitter and tangy flavor. This means that the minute it hits your mouth it gets your digestive juices flowing in preparation for enjoying other foods. So, rhubarb, particularly in its raw form, can be a wonderful way of making any other ingredient that it is combined with, seem more delicious. In this raw form, rhubarb is juicy at the same time as it has an astringent (drying effect) on the mouth. In this way, it adds extra moisture to other dry ingredients without swamping them in liquid.
From these points of view, one interesting way of enjoying raw rhubarb is with cold meats. Peeled raw in long slivers using a potato peeler over smoked ham or other meat delicacies it can create both an attractive appearance to an otherwise dull plate of meat offerings and it also contributes that extra verve taste-wise. If you are not a meat eater and depending on the type of rhubarb you have, you can also slice it into sticks and place it upright in a small jar half filled with ice water as you would with celery and serve it with a slightly sweet creamy dip such as a curry dip, for instance. This makes an eye-catching addition to any starter tray, buffet or meal.
When it comes to cooked recipes, chutneys made with rhubarb are an unbeatable addition to the spring/summer barbecue. Make your chutney by gently cooking sugar or honey, salt, vinegar, fruit and seasonings together to produce that sweet and sour flavor that many of us adore. You need to decide what consistency you want. Why not try a vegetarian barbecue (use olive oil doused egg plant, courgette and tomato) with chutney and whole fat yogurt as condiments?
Jam is another route for preserving the zingy flavor of rhubarb as a sweet food. For a delicious rhubarb jam combine 2.2 lbs/1 kg rhubarb with 25 oz/700 g sugar. For making smaller quantities of jam that will be consumed within a week or two, you can use raw honey instead of sugar. This is a healthier option with a special flavor. Simmer for a half an hour. Add lemon rind and continue to cook a few more minutes. Pot in sterilized jars and presto!
In Scandinavia, rhubarb soups and compotes are classic ways of preparing nature’s first sweet spring offering. These have the added benefits that they are low-fat and extremely simple to make. Chop up 1 kg rhubarb and pour in water so that it is up to 3/4 the height of the rhubarb in the pan. Cook gently until the rhubarb has softened (you choose how soft you want it). If you want to avoid that shreddy consistency of rhubarb soup, puree the rhubarb mixture. Add sugar and lemon rind to taste and serve at room temperature with a dollop of whole milk yogurt or cream. This also makes a nice combination with rice pudding.
A Classic Scandinavian Dessert Recipe
When it comes to classic rhubarb desserts, there is one that has surpassed many others into mythology. It is called Hildur’s rhubarb pie and appeared first in Sweden during the early 1970s. As with most truly great recipes, no one is quite sure exactly where it first appeared. It uses modest quantities of 'bad' ingredients such as refined sugar and flour which makes it a relatively healthy dessert consumed in small quantities. Here it is.
Hildurs Rhubarb Pie
Serves 6 persons
Ingredients:
3-5 rhubarb stalks
1-2 tbsps sugar
2 tbsps water
1/3 cup or 1 dl crushed almonds
3.5 oz/100 g butter, softened at room temperature
1/3 cup or 1 dl sugar
1 tbsp flour
2 eggs
Preheat your oven to 390 F/200 C.
Rinse and chop rhubarb into chunks. Simmer the rhubarb, sugar and water for 2 minutes in a covered pot (preferably not metallic as it reacts with the oxalic acid). Pour the rhubarb mixture into a deep oven-proof dish. Separate yolks from egg whites. Cream sugar and butter. Add flour and almonds. Whisk egg whites until white peaks form. Gently fold the beaten egg whites under the batter mixture using a large spoon. Spread the batter evenly on top of the rhubarb. Bake 15 minutes and serve with a dollop of cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
