The earth goddess was exercising her sense of humor when she came up with rhubarb--not a fruit, not exactly a vegetable, poisonous leaves, medicinal roots. “Let’s see if they figure this one out,” she was chuckling to herself. I suspect rhubarb’s reputation as something old-fashioned, sour and stringy is because of its rather unappetizing name. (It comes from “rha of the barbarians”, which refers to its origins in Siberia near the river Rha, now the Volga).

Rhubarb has been around since 2700 BC, although it was the roots of the plant that were valued in China and they were used medicinally. Marco Polo even had it on his radar (or the 11th century equivalent) as a valuable trading commodity. Check out lots more interesting trivia at www.rhubarbinfo.com. It’s too late in the season now, but you might want to put one of the midwestern rhubarb festivals on your calendar for next year: www.rhubarbfestival.org or www.aledomainstreet.com.

Rhubarb Redux
It took me a while to apprecitae rhubarb. My Lithuanian grandma grew it, stewed it to death and served it as a side dish. It probably tasted good, but as a kid I couldn’t get past the sickly pink color and strange texture. It sure is pretty as a plant, though, and growing rhubarb converted me. These days, rhubarb is becoming trendy. Restaurants are serving it in cocktails (rhubarb bellini, honest) and as a sauce. Of course, they usually call the sauce “confit” or “gastrique” or “chutney”. Hey, it’s just a fancy way of saying stewed rhubarb.

Rhubarb’s easy to handle. Just wash it and slice into quarter inch pieces. Stringing is unnecessary. Color doesn’t really matter either. Green rhubarb tastes as good as red, it’s just not as pretty. Dole packages and distuributes frozen rhubarb, but it’s easy to find at farmers’ markets and even easier to grow in your backyard. It does freeze well, so once you have a source, stock up, slice it and stow it.

Rhubarb Recipes

Here’s a quick, easy recipe for Rhubarb Clafouti. It can be dessert with a little ice cream or whipped cream, or even breakfast. After all, rhubarb is a vegetable, so you can count it as one of your servings and feel virtuous. Following is also my recipe for Double Ginger Rhubarb Chutney so you can be one of the first to serve rhubarb relish with grilled meats at your next barbecue. Feel free to call it confit or gastrique is you prefer. Just don’t call it stewed.

Rhubarb Clafouti

1 CUP SUGAR (DIVIDED INTO HALF CUPS)
4 CUPS RHUBARB CHUNKS (1/4 INCH SLICES)
3 EGGS
1/2 CUP FLOUR
1/2 TEASPOON GINGER
1/2 TEASPOON CINNAMON
1 CUP CREAM ( OR HALF AND HALF, NOT ULTRA-PASTEURIZED)
2OZ. BUTTER, MELTED AND COOLED A BIT
1/4 CUP OATMEAL (REGULAR, NOT INSTANT)

Butter a 9-inch pie plate (preferably glass) and preheat oven to 325º.

Sprinkle half the sugar over the rhubarb. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and the other half cup sugar until light (several minutes). Whisk in the flour, spices and then the cream. Batter will be the consistency of pancake batter, thick, but pourable. Add the fruit mixture and stir gently.

Pour into prepared pie plate. Bake for about an hour. The clafouti is done when it’s totally puffed all over and beginning to color around the edges. It even magically develops a “crust”.

It will collapse (unfortunately) as it cools. Eat lukewarm or chilled.

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Double-Ginger Rhubarb Chutney

2 CUPS CHOPPED RHUBARB (IN 1/4 TO 1/2 PIECES)
1/2 CUP DRY WHITE WINE
1/2 CUP SUGAR
1 TEAS. MINCED GARLIC
1/4 TEASPOON NUTMEG
1 TABLESPOON CRYSTALLIZED GINGER, MINCED
2 TEASPOONS MINCED FRESH GINGER (A WALNUT SIZED PIECE)
1/2 TEASPOON CRUSHED RED PEPPER (ADJUST TO TASTE)
1/4 CUP CHOPPED (PREFERABLY TOASTED) WALNUTS

Combine all ingredients, except walnuts. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Simmer 5 minutes, add walnuts and simmer another five minutes or until rhubarb breaks down and sauce thickens to your liking.

This is excellent with grilled chicken, turkey or pork.