Everything's Coming Up Rhubarb

Andrew Oldham praises a very British practical crop, easy to grow but so diverse in uses and recipes

There is nothing more British than rhubarb and custard and T this dessert vegetable has a strange history. Rhubarb came with the Romans and its origins are lost. We know that it came from barbarian lands beyond the Rha river (Siberia) and that the Romans called it 'Rha barbarum' from which we derived 'rhubarb.' Rhubarb didn't come with Roman custard but came with a health warning. The rhubarb rhizome (roots) is to laxatives what dynamite is to mining, explosive. It has been used to purge peoples' bodies throughout history and is still used in modern herbal medicine. Rhubarb became part of our diet in the 1700s when the first rhubarb tarts appeared as a cheap alternative to gooseberries. This thug of a plant is known as 'God's great gift' and in 1817 this gift took on a new dimension and when in London's Chelsea Physic Garden 'forced' rhubarb was accidentally discovered by gardeners who covered over several rhubarb crowns with spoil, weeks later they uncovered sweet pink stems.

RHUBARB AS AN INDUSTRY

A new industry was born and was led by farmers in the North of England within a 9 square mile area between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell called the 'rhubarb triangle.' Forced rhubarb is sweeter than open ground rhubarb. Yet, rhubarb has one last deadly secret. Rhubarb is poisonous. Rhubarb leaves are packed full of oxalic acid which leads to organ failure. I was taught never to pick rhubarb after the second week of July as the oxalic acid returns from the leaves to the rhizome as the plant stores its energy for winter. Whether this is true or not, there is a universal truth that by July, Carol and I look at each other and say, 'I am sick of rhubarb crumble.' We use to give our crumbles away but most of our neighbours now have rhubarb crowns from us. We got ours from my dad. My dad laughed when he gave it to us, now we know why. Once you have rhubarb, you have it for life.