Rhubarb is an ingredient with an interesting history, and two different growing seasons, as Roger Rossignol of Cornish Food Market explains:
“Although the uses of rhubarb are thought to date back much further, the earliest record of it being used is approximately 2700BC. It was used at the time to treat a variety of different ailments including lung, liver and gut problems as a form of drug. Being referred to as Rhacoma root, Marco Polo is attributed to bringing rhubarb – then thought of as a drug – to Europe in the thirteenth century. Being a plant which is native to and extensively used in Persia and Syria, where it grows along the river banks, the first plants grown in Britain were not seen until the sixteenth century for pharmaceutical purposes. It wasn’t until the late eighteenth century that it was first used in English culinary adventures, most likely in an attempt to get the benefits of the drug into the body quicker.
Although the fleshy stalks of rhubarb are treated as a fruit despite their tart flavour, botanically, it is a vegetable related to sorrel.
In the United Kingdom, rhubarb grows in two crops. The first crop is known as forced rhubarb and is usually available from January to early February. The forced roots of the rhubarb are grown in fields for approximately two years where they store energy. The rhubarb is then grown in forcing sheds where all light is excluded which encourages the plants to make an early growth before being harvested by candlelight. In the United Kingdom forced rhubarb is predominantly grown in an area in West Yorkshire dubbed as the ‘Rhubarb Triangle’. Due to being forced, the rhubarb is more delicately flavoured and tender with a crimson stalk and pale green leaves. The traditionally grown forced or indoor Yorkshire rhubarb has been dubbed as ‘Champagne rhubarb’ by some celebrity chefs and journalists due to its preferred flavour over the main crop rhubarb.
The second crop, known as main crop rhubarb, is grown outdoors and is grown widely throughout the United Kingdom. This crop relies on the frost-free, milder outdoor conditions of spring, which means it is generally available from March to June on-wards. Compared to the forced, this crop has a more robust fibrous texture and the flavour is more intense with a bright pink vibrant colour and dark green leaves. Although most commonly associated with crumble, it is a highly versatile ingredient, and can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes.”