RHUBARB
Rhubarb is a vegetable, but it’s usually used like a fruit. We eat its fleshy stems and throw away the leaves, as the leaves are high in oxalic acid which is toxic. Rhubarb has an unusual taste—tart and sour—and most people either love it or hate it.
We usually get just a small bunch of rhubarb, so we’ve selected recipes that use modest amounts. The Kavakoses are working to increase their rhubarb harvest as their membership grows, but rhubarb takes a few years to grow to harvestable size and needs just the right conditions to thrive. There’s a new field of rhubarb now, so let’s keep our fingers crossed—we may get bigger bunches in the coming years.
Varieties in Your Share
Culinary Rhubarb
Storing: Store rhubarb unwashed in your refrigerator crisper drawer, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or in a ziplock bag. Remove any bits of leaves before storing it (they’re toxic). Whole stalks of rhubarb will last 5-7 days in the refrigerator; it’s best to store them whole as cut or diced pieces will dry out quickly.
Preserving: You can freeze rhubarb by cutting the stalks into 1-inch lengths and packaging in airtight bags, or by stewing first and then freezing. Rhubarb does not need to be sweetened before it is frozen.
Avoiding waste: If the rhubarb has been in the fridge for longer than a week and looks a little peaked or is too floppy to dice—don’t give up. Trim off the ends and stand the stalks in cool water for an hour or more and it will become firm again.
Rhubarb most commonly appears in baked goods. Strawberry-rhubarb pie is a classic. The sweetness of the berries tones down the tartness of the rhubarb. It is also used in breads, cakes, muffins, cookies, and puddings.
For many people, rhubarb on its own can be a little much; it’s usually paired with fruits, such as strawberries, apples, and pears. It can be cooked or stewed into a sauce that makes an unusual accompaniment for meat, poultry, or fish. The sauces are usually sweetened but can be savory as well.
Rhubarb makes a wonderful jam or jelly—but we don’t get enough of it in our shares to make them.
Diced rhubarb, raw or stewed, can be added to salad or salsas. Some other uses:
- Add diced rhubarb to smoothies; add a bit more sweetener if you’re not also using sweeter fruits
- Add to pancake or waffle batter – again, increase the sweetener slightly
- Use stewed rhubarb as a spread for muffins or quickbreads
- Yes, it can be eaten raw, like celery – most people don’t like it that way, but a little sugar helps
Rhubarb stalks sometimes look a little ragged. Before you use them, trim off the roots, blemished areas, and any bits of leaves. The leaves have high levels of oxalic acid, which can be toxic.
Mature stalks can be over an inch wide. Slice them in two vertically before using them.
If the stalks are very fibrous, with strings hanging off them, pull the strings down the stalk and remove them. Or, if there are strings all over, use a vegetable peeler to remove the top layer of the stalk.
Stewing: To turn rhubarb into a sauce, chop it and cook in a liquid until soft. The sauce can be sweet or savory. Here’s our recipe for stewed rhubarb. [link underlined to Stewed Rhubarb recipe page]
Baking: Rhubarb is often used in baked goods, adding a sour element to pies, cakes, muffins, breads, and even cookies. You’ll find recipes below. If you have a lot of rhubarb, you can make a baked rhubarb side dish. [link underlined to Baked Rhubarb Side Dish recipe page]
Poaching: If you want a rhubarb sauce with more solid pieces of rhubarb, poach it in sweetened water for 8-10 minutes. [link underlined to Poached Rhubarb Sauce recipe page]
Microwaving: For a quick and simple sauce, mix 1 ½ cups diced rhubarb with ½ cup (more or less to taste) sugar and ¼ cup fruit juice. Microwave on high for five minutes, stirring halfway through.
RECIPES
DRINKS & PARFAITS
MISC
Rhubarb is an excellent source of Vitamin K—one cup of diced raw rhubarb contains 35.7 μg or 30% of the recommended daily value of Vitamin K (phylloquinone). It is also a good source of Vitamin C and manganese. Rhubarb has a low glycemic index.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
The rhubarb we eat (known as culinary rhubarb) is a hybrid of several types. There are a few cultivars, including ‘Valentine,’ ‘Ruby Red’ and ‘Victoria.”
Rhubarb is a perennial; it does not die at the end of the year. Instead, its roots remain underground and new stalks and leaves appear the following spring. Rhubarb needs rich soil and prefers a multi-season climate, with warm summers, and winters where the temperatures dip below 40 F. Plants need to be spaced far apart because they grow huge—a mature rhubarb plant can grow to three feet wide.
Plants are not harvested until they are three years old, and they need that many years of good weather to become established; unusual cold or heat will harm young plants but once they get going, they can live for twenty years or more.
The Kavakoses are trying to establish new rhubarb fields but it may take a few more years before we see bigger bunches of rhubarb in our shares.
Centuries ago, many different plants were called rhubarb—any plant with a fleshy stem fell under its rubric. Thomas Jefferson cultivated a plant called Rheum undulatum, the leaves of which he likened to spinach (meaning they were likely not toxic).
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