RHUBARB IN THE RAIN
By Ania Janasak of Ania’s Catering
I was going to write about summer barbeques and light salads and things to cool down with in
the heat. You know those blistering days of late June and July by the lake etc...Well it is the last
week in June and it raining and its darn cold. In fact, keeping warm snuggled up with a good fire
in the hearth, a bottle of good sherry and a book is a far better choice so far. My garden is not at
its usual vigour but my rhubarb is doing very well and I thought you might be interested in some
background and recipes for this colorful vegetable - yes it is not a fruit despite its association
with desserts.
Though it stands on its own when called to the front, it has an incredible ability to blend with
fruits with as apples and strawberries to make wonderful pies and the like. Most of us are very
familiar with these and I offer a delicious whipped one from an old recipe but do you also know
that rhubarb makes fine relishes, chutneys, catsups and sauces for meat - great for glazing in
barbeques if we ever get there this year. And freezing rhubarb is easy. Just cut into 1" pieces,
shake off excess water, pack tightly into freezer bags; squeezing out air, close with a twist tie and
label and that’s it.
Rhubarb came from the Far East and was introduced to the Europeans as a food by Arab traders.
It had been grown in China for medicinal purposes since 2000 B.C. The stalks are eaten. The
leaves are not! They are poisonous and contain oxalic acid which does terrible things to the
stomach and organs. This vegetable is related to French Sorrel and is a good source of Calcium,
some fiber and iron. It is acidic by nature and best picked when ripe as possible to reduce the
amount of sugar needed. I have two varieties - one is huge with heavy stalks that are green with
red stripes and the other is quite a bit smaller with bright red stalks and is much sweeter. They
are a very attractive plant and easy to grow so long as you keep them well fed and watered in a
loose loam soil.
RHUBARB WHIPPED CREAM PIE
unflavored gelatin
cold water
stewed rhubarb
sugar
whipping cream
graham cracker pie shell
2 tbsp
½ cup
2 ½ cups
1 cup
1 cup
Soften gelatin in water. Heat rhubarb and sugar to boiling, add gelatin and stir until dissolved.
Cool: when mixture begins to thicken fold in stiffly whipped cream. Pour into pie shell and chill.
The following chutney recipe is from Company’s coming by Jean Pare. I have tried it and was
pleasantly surprised by its rich and complex taste. As Jean says: ” A good, mild spicy flavor.
Excellent served with cold meat, as a sandwich spread, or other cream cheese with crackers.”
RHUBARB CHUTNEY
Sliced Rhubbarb
white vinegar
granulated sugar
brown sugar, packed
golden raisins
finely chopped onion
8 cups
2 cups
2 cups
2 cups
2 cups
2 cups
table salt
ground ginger
cayenne pepper
mustard seed
cinnamon stick
whole cloves
½ tsp
½ tsp
1/4 tsp
1 tbsp
1 broken up
1 tsp
Mix first 9 ingredients in a large heavy pot. Tie mustard seed, cinnamon stck and cloves in a
double layer of cheese cloth. Add to the pot. Heat on medium stirring often as it comes to a boil
and the sugar dissolves. Simmer, uncovered for a about 40 Minutes until thickened, stirring
occasionally. Discard spice bag. Pout into hot sterilized jars to within 1/4 inch of top. Seal,
makes three pints. By the way I highly recommend this cookbook series. The recipes are easy
to follow and delicious.
RHUBARB CONSERVE
Rhubarb
3 lbs
sugar
3 lbs
lemons
2
oranges
1
handful chopped walnuts added after cooking
Chop the rhubarb, lemons and orange into fine pieces. Mix well with sugar. Let stand over night.
Cook the next morning until it thickens. Add nuts to desired consistency and bottle per normal
methods.
RHUBARB AND ONION RELISH
chopped rhubarb
4 cups
chopped white onions 4 cups
cider vinegar
2 cups
salt
1 tbsp
brown sugar
4 cups
cloves, allspice, cinnamon 1 tsp each
cayenne to taste - up to 1 tsp for a hot relish
Put everything together and cook over a medium heat until quite thick. Pour while hot in to hot
sterilized jars and seal according to the manufacturer’s directions. This stuff is great on hot dogs
or smokies!
RHUBARB SAUCE FOR MEATS
frozen chopped rhubarb
chopped candied ginger
white sugar
squeeze of lemon juice
pinch of salt
½ tbsp butter
½ tsp Louisiana hot sauce
2 cups
1/4 cup
1/3 cup
Combine all ingredients and cook over medium heat in a heavy pot until it reaches a thick,
creamy consistency. It is great on pork or chicken as a condiment or as a basting glaze for ribs in
the oven or barbeque.
My father-in-law used to make a sweet and powerful wine with a light pinkish hue. I found his
recipe among my papers and thought some of you wine makers ( to go with the meal of course)
might want to give it a try.
RHUBARB WINE
rhubarb stalks
5 lbs
raisins
1 lb
water
7 pints
sugar
4 lbs
sherry yeast
nutrient (makes the yeast happier - your local wine store will have this)
Campden tablet
Crush rhubarb and raisins and allow to soak for seven days in half the water, in which one
campden tablet has been dissolved. Then strain, wring out dry and warm the juice just enough to
dissolve the first half of the sugar. Ferment this in the primary with the yeast for fourteen days.
Make syrup of the rest of the water and sugar and add this to the rest. Put into a secondary glass
jar and fit the fermentation lock or cover as directed and leave until all fermentation has ceased.
I should add that making wines from scratch as opposed to those popular kits is not for those
without some experience or the sense to read about the safety issues before trying for the first
time. There are some bad bacteria out there that just love to infest wines on the brew and the
resulting vinegar or worse is just not what you were looking for. A sterile environment with
stringent attention to cleanliness is vital and the right equipment makes it a lot easier.
So what started out as a walk in the rain to my rhubarb patch ended up here.