A few days ago I was down at the Homestead gardens here at Struan Farm and realised it was time to pick the rhubarb. Rhubarb is one of those foods that I am somewhat ambivalent about. I want to like it, I really do. It's "old fashioned." And so I've grown it.
Although typically served with and as a fruit, rhubarb is actually a vegetable. It's related both to sorrel and dock, and has been grown in China since 2700 B.C., where it was used for medical purposes as a laxative, to reduce fever and to cleanse the body. The leaves contain oxalic acid and are poisonous.
I recalled the word rhubarb also meaning a fight. When I did a bit more research I discovered it was coined by Brooklyn Dodger baseball broadcaster Red Barber in 1943 when referring to a fight or altercation in baseball. So just a few factoids on rhubarb.
I've done some harvesting. Some went off to Piopio's Fat Pigeon Cafe, the rest went into one of Karen't little cooking experiments: "Roasted Rhubarb and Strawberries" by Ladystiles on Food52.
Rhubarb is tart on its own, so is normally mixed with sweeter fruit like strawberries or raspberries. It also needs to be cooked down.
For this recipe the strawberries and roughly chopped rhubarb are tossed with a mixture of maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, a pinch of salt and sweet vermouth. This latter ingredient ended up being quite the quest in area liquor stores. I finally found some in a shop where the proprietor had never heard of it and hadn't realised he stocked it. The bottle also didn't have "vermouth" on the front label, rather that minor detail was buried on the back. Go figure! I went looking for "Noilly Prat," a French brand I was familiar with, but found "Martini" by Martini & Rossi. Turns out "Cinzano" is also vermouth. To explain this all a bit further, vermouth is an aromatic, fortified wine made with various botanicals (herbs and spices). It is drunk as an aperitif but is also used to make martinis and manhattans. Perhaps this is more than you want to know about vermouth, so now back to the roasted rhubarb and strawberries.....
This roasted for about 40 minutes at 180C, during which time the kitchen was filled with a wonderful fragrance. It's meant to be served warm over ice cream, which was what we did. It could probably also be served over pound cake or even mixed into yogurt.
This was absolutely delicious, I'm converted!
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