When I was a child in elementary school, I always felt cheated when the cafeteria served rhubarb pie masquerading as cherry pie for dessert.
Long time gardeners know all about rhubarb, but I’ve encountered a fair number of young people who tell me that they’ve never tasted rhubarb.
However, from a survival perspective, rhubarb is a perennial worth considering. You could grow it in a a front yard flowerbed and it’s doubtful the homeowner’s association (HOA) would recognize it. It’s easy to grow, nutritious, stealthy, forgiving (last year I transplanted plants from one bed to another in early Texas summer, and it flourished), and it will come back year after year. But what does one do with rhubarb? Rhubarb is one of those plants that is a vegetable but is usually treated in cooking as a fruit. If the food ever runs out, rhubarb can be depended on whether fresh or preserved.
Just so you know, the tartness of rhubarb calls for one cup of white sugar in many of the recipes. Dieters and diabetics be warned.
This is my combined review of four rhubarb books. Two of them are full cookbooks, and the other two are brief, but are “all things rhubarb.” Enjoy!Continue reading“Rhubarb: Four Book Reviews, by S.A.”