Rhubarb! Some may know, some may wonder what I am speaking about.
Rhubarb is definitely not, or maybe not yet, a fixture in the average customer’s grocery trolley. In places it is even hard to find. Well, well, it is the right season around Sydney. Let me introduce you to it.
The rhubarb plant
Rhubarb is a perennial (it means it grows again and again every year on its own) low-lying plant. The plant is half a metre tall and consist of long stalk of reddish colour which thick very large leaves. As a kid, we used to pinch leaves from the veges garden’s plant and use them as umbrellas!
The plant typically grows in temperate climate, hence you shall find plenty reference to it in Northern France, England, Belgium, Germany, etc and their equivalent climate countries around the world. The stalk is what is eaten, cooked. The leaves (I recently learned) are toxic!
Rhubarb Preparation
This is something you can get your child to help with, it is fun.
- Cut the leaves and discard.
- Rinse/wash the stalks.
- Cut the bottom part of each stalk and pull any stringy skin that comes with it
Your rhubarb is ready.
What to do with it?
Here are 5 ideas of what to do with it:
Stewed rhubarb:
This is the easiest use! Just cut in 5 cm pieces, place in a saucepan, add water until mid-heigth (of the rhubarb) and cook gently for about 15 minutes. When stirred it should come apart, just add some white sugar to taste. Want more precision, look HERE.
Rhubarb, yogurt and cereal breakfast
A great combination for an uncommon breakfast. The name and the photo say it all. More HERE.
Roasted rhubarb
This one works great as a side to a vanilla pannacotta or the topping of a cake. To find how to prepare it, click HERE. 
A simple rustic rhubarb tarte
This one is a french classic. A short crust pastry, the rhubarb stalks are diced quite small and placed on the pastry. There are 2 choices then: just add sugar and a few nuts of butter (not pictured here) or add an egg, milk, almond mixture, then bake! Yummy. The details HERE.
And finally, a leavened dough rhubarb tart
This dough makes use of the roasted rhubarb and a northern France traditional tarte which dough is made with fresh yeast, the sugar tarte (tarte au sucre). I will cover that tarte au sucre in an upcoming post, just delicious!
