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Rhubarb 101
What is this tart, celery-looking “pie plant”?
BY ERIK TORMOEN
This is the story of a produce-aisle peculiarity that intrigues medical researchers, enthralls historians, defies bakers and straddles the fruit-vegetable fault line.
It’s not tomatoes. We already know tomatoes star in an epic fruit-or-vegetable scandal. (Which is it? And why is that even a question?) No, it’s rhubarb, a so-called “pie plant” that quietly courts the same botanical confusion. This hardy, herbaceous perennial grows in cooler climates, originated in northern Asia, according to historical accounts, and is related to flowery, spindly buckwheat. Zoroastrian myth held that rhubarb birthed the first human couple, but we know it better as a heart-leafed, celery-like stalk that’s sometimes red, sometimes greenish pink, and in season about April through mid-summer. (Although more delicate “forced” rhubarb can appear as early as January.)
Technically, rhubarb is a vegetable. More specifically, a petiole—or the thing that connects a leaf to its stem. And yet, in legal terms, rhubarb is a fruit (which, scientifically speaking, designates a fertilized ovule). The U.S. Customs Court in Buffalo, New York, changed rhubarb’s categorization in 1947. We treat it in more fruit-like ways, after all—namely, by baking it in desserts—and this made it a cheaper import, with veggies taxed higher.
Treating rhubarb as a food at all, though, is a relatively new development, as it has long been used for medicinal purposes. Ancient Chinese records note the use of rhubarb for digestive ailments, and as a Silk Road commodity—dried and powdered—it is said to have surpassed opium, cinnamon and saffron in value. Cultivation long frustrated explorers from Europe. There, the culinary version of rhubarb appears to have taken off around the 18th century.
The ruby stripes you see in today’s grocery stores are, of course, not good as medicine. Instead, they work as favorites in cakes, crumbles, jams and tarts. If you use sugar and strawberries to disarm its tart zing, rhubarb makes a peerless vegetable pie. But it can also add tang to savory items, such as sauces, chutneys, salsas and even butter. For sweeter rhubarb, select younger stalks, which have a brighter red color. Also seek out firmness, crispness and a good shine.
Nutritionally, rhubarb is a significant source of carbs, fiber and vitamin K1, and a less significant source of calcium, potassium and vitamin C. The leaves are notoriously toxic, so trim those before cooking if they’re still attached.
But rhubarb’s most common cause of concern is probably its propensity to leak. Since it doesn’t have much pectin, a natural thickening starch, how are you supposed to keep rhubarb desserts from running? After chopping it up, try mixing it with sugar and letting it sit in the fridge overnight. The sugar should draw out some of that moisture.
And there’s a lot of it. Rhubarb is 95 percent water, according to journalist Kim Ode in her book “Rhubarb Renaissance.” Because of this, Ode has found that many rhubarb-related recipes use too much cooking liquid. “Given medium heat and a few watchful stirs, you can get past the sizzle part in no time, and the eventual result is far less soupy and far more rhubarby,” she writes.
A unique ingredient with a somewhat cryptic heritage, rhubarb rewards the extra work. It makes for the best vegetable-based dessert we can think of, and for a savory twist, try Ode’s recipe for rhubarb-bacon compote below. n
Rhubarb-Bacon Compote
MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP
Sure, you can’t go wrong with bacon and onions, but rhubarb ups the ante in this piquant compote. It’s great alongside pork tenderloin but would also jazz up grilled bratwurst or chicken breasts.
2 slices thick-cut bacon
1 cup finely minced yellow onion
1 cup thinly sliced rhubarb
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
pinch allspice
pinch dried thyme
In a skillet over medium heat, brown the bacon until crisp, then set aside on paper towels. Add the onion to the bacon drippings and cook, stirring, until soft and lightly golden, about 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in rhubarb, then add the maple syrup, vinegar, allspice, and thyme and cook over low heat until rhubarb is soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and crumble bacon into the rhubarb. Serve with grilled meats or poultry.
