OLS | Rhubarb

By Leslie Kedash

For this weekend’s OLS, we visited Highland Orchards in West Chester. In observance of our goal of food shopping without an agenda, we arrived to find it was the final weekend of “pick your own” rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum).

I first encountered rhubarb in a pie (as you might expect) on a visit to New England as a child. Since then, I had essentially ignored the crimson stalks in the supermarket. But now, here it was, the whole plant–with giant, mildly poisonous leaves and tart, tender, screaming red stalks.

Armed with a fresh-picked pile of the perennial vegetable (yes, “they” say it’s a vegetable), we grabbed two pints of strawberries and headed home to make (surprise), a strawberry rhubarb pie.

One crust, stewed rhubarb, strawberries, flour, cinnamon and honey from the home court bees makes a quick, simple pie which is sweet, tart, and decidedly tasty.

A native of Asia, rhubarb  made its way to Maine in the early 1800s, brought by a wave of western european settlers. The leaves contain oxalic acid, a poison which, if you happened to eat 5 pounds of them,  could kill you. Less prodigious amounts of a close relative have been used medicinally in Asia for centuries.

U-Pick rhubarb, strawberries from the farm bench and our “homemade” honey. That gets you one local and savory pie.

Another good recipe for Rhubarb comes from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

Stewed Rhubarb

1 1/2 pounds rhubarb

1/2 cup honey or sugar

3 cloves

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange or lemon

Chop the rhubarb into short pieces and put in a heavy pan with the honey or sugar, cloves, zest, and juice. Cook over low heat intil the rhubarb has broken down, about 10 minutes. Taste and sweeten as needed.