Thursday, March 25, 2010
You scream I scream we all scream for RHUBARB?
I grew up in Vermont and this is the time of the year when the rhubarb is growing like crazy, unfurling its giant elephant ear leaves from the end of crimson celery-like stalks. It is super tart but when paired with strawberries makes the most delicious combination this side of peanut butter and jelly. I do believe it is a true New England plant as I dont recall seeing Strawberry Rhubarb pie, preserves, compote, or crisp anywhere but Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
I checked out the origins of Rhubarb in Wikipedia and was surprised that it has been used for medical purposes by the Chinese for thousands of years but is thought to have been compiled in about 2700 BC. The plant has grown wild along the banks of the River Volga for centuries but this variety was known to the west as Russian rhubarb, as opposed to the more efficacious Chinese rhubarb. The expense of transportion across Asia caused rhubarb to be highly expensive in medieval Europe where it was several times the price of other valuable herbs and spices such as cinnamon, opium and saffron. The merchant explorer, Marco Polo, was therefore much interested to find the plant being grown and harvested in the mountains of Tangut province.
The term rhubarb is a combination of the Greek rha and barbarum; rha is a term that refers both to the plant and to the River Volga. Rhubarb first came to the United States in the 1820s, entering the country in Maine and Massachusetts and moving westwards with the European American settlers.
Rhubarb is one of those foods that you either love or hate and I absolutely love it. It made me laugh the other day that I paid nearly five dollars a pound for a few gorgeous organic stalks at Whole Foods, when I am certain that some of my Vermont friends have so much in their garden that at that price could pay cash for a Land Rover.
So Brenda and Vallerie, please stop laughing that I had to BUY rhubarb. I whipped up a lovely tart sweet compote and promptly spooned it over a dish of Greek yogurt. It makes me think of my mothers beautiful garden at the house on Hollister Hill. Strawberry Rhubarb compote tastes like Vermont.
Strawberry Rhubarb Compote
Perfect in a small dish with yogurt or Greek yogurt, or ricotta.
3 pounds rhubarb stalks - sliced
2 quarts strawberries, halved
1 cup Splenda
1 lemon, cut in half
Combine the rhubarb, strawberries, and Splenda in a large pot, squeeze each lemon half over the fruit, then add to the pot. Cook over medium low heat until the fruit releases some of its juice - then bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until fruit is softened, and the syrup is beautiful, thick, red and glossy.
posted by Susan Maria of BariatricEating.com @ 8:11 PM
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