Red and resolute

From crumbles to pot-cleaner, rhubarb continues to earn its keep

Vegetable, yet fruit thou art,
Tall and green both sweet and tart.
Hardy plant and so prolific,
General uses and specific.
Spring’s delight and winter’s pleasure,
Medicine, yet kitchen’s treasure.

MUSKOKA SUN - Lovers of rhubarb look eagerly for the first, tiny, red, noses of rhubarb in spring. After only a few days of minimal warmth the red noses turn to oriental, bulb-like growths Then the first tender stalks appear with small winkled pale green leaves.
Each year I am taken by surprise by the sudden change in the plants after only a short time. Like magic the leaves turn to dark green and spread out to a width of six inches, or even more, and the red stalks widen to an inch across and grow tall, red, strong and succulent. I can feel my mouth watering as I anticipate the acid bite the spring rhubarb will bring to my winter-dulled palate.
Most pioneer families travelled to their new homes with a rhubarb root in a pail, so if you find the cellar hole of an old farm house, chance are you’ll discover rhubarb plants still thriving nearby.
Like many of us, the early settlers waited impatiently for the first taste of rhubarb; they were even more impatient because of their monotonous winter diet of salt pork, pickled beef and earthy root crops.
We are free to pick and choose the temperate and tropical fruits at the local supermarket and so many of us ignore the garden rhubarb once spring has passed and the tender, young stalks are gone. Our forefathers, who seldom saw an orange except perhaps at Christmas, were never guilty of this. Rhubarb was a reliable staple from spring into late fall.
Throughout the growing season the settlers’ compotes, tarts, pies, breads, muffins and pancakes were enlivened by the sharp taste of rhubarb. Even the plant’s blooms could be soaked in salt water then dipped in a simple flour batter, fried and eaten. In the winter, rhubarb pie filling, conserve, juice and wine brightened the table until, alas, the rhubarb was gone for the year.
In Muskoka, where maple syrup was plentiful, rhubarb often got a good dousing of rich syrup. Rhubarb mixes well with apples, wild strawberries, blueberries and cranberries so the early settlers could always fill the half empty pie shell of another fruit with rhubarb. Today we can make heavenly rhubarb jam with pineapple and whip stewed rhubarb into fresh cream, vanilla ice cream, or yogurt. Rhubarb’s acidity and water content allow it to be frozen easily for winter use without cooking.
Rhubarb has been around for a long time. Five thousand years ago, Chinese healers discovered its medicinal value. The monks in early European monasteries prepared rhubarb tinctures and teas for those with ailments.
Early Muskoka settlers also knew the medicinal value of rhubarb. It was a cathartic taken in the spring for rejuvenation and energy, and an astringent. The juice of rhubarb, made from boiling bruised stalks, was mixed with scrapings of harsh home made lye soap, a little sugar or syrup to make a noble purgative.
A more tempting mixture administered with the same end in mind was tincture of rhubarb made from half a pint of rhubarb juice and half a pint of the best alcohol. This was allowed to sit in a warm place for five or six days and then filtered before using.
Rhubarb was also used to treat diarrhea, as well as inflamation of the eyes.
“What’s good for man is good for beast,” is an old saying applied to early medicines, and with this in mind rhubarb made its way into the farmers and farriers’ recipes. Constipated horses, cattle and other farm animals were loosened or scoured with a mixture of one and a half ounces powdered rhubarb root added to one and a half pints of milk. Animals were dosed three to five times daily. The farmer and his family got the same preparation, but only half a teaspoon of the rhubarb root was added to the same amount of milk and the dose was reduced to one administration of two or three tablespoons.
Rhubarb had other uses as well. Boiling chopped rhubarb in a dirty pot or kettle was a way of cleaning the container. A peeled rhubarb stalk rubbed on a copper pot along with a shake of salt now and then will restore the rich glow of a copper pot.
Rhubarb is generally hidden in the back corner of the garden. The spot must be sunny and is often a distance from the other crops and flowers that come and go as summer brings harvests and blooms at allotted times.
The plant grows readily from seed sown on well-drained soil in the fall, but is best propagated from a crown. A seeded plant takes two years of growth to produce edible stalks, whereas a transplanted crown will give usable fruit in the first summer after planting.
A little sun, some water and some well-rotted manure is all your rhubarb asks in order to present a bumper crop. To maintain good growth and flavour in the stalks, the seeds and edible flowers should be removed as they appear.
Every four or five years the plant should be lifted and separated for a fresh start, but even without this care resolute rhubarb will continue to produce a harvest for you.
Rhubarb is a vital plant with an honourable past. It’s a mighty plant strong in growth, strong in taste and strong in action – a vegetable, a fruit, a medicine - cleanser and cleaner for pots, men and beasts.

Rhubarb Sauce
1 cup of tender rhubarb cut into small pieces
1 cup of sugar
½ to ¾ cups of water (stir and cook the rhubarb
until tender)
add 1 cup of crushed pineapple
½ cup of chopped maraschino cherries
Chill and serve over vanilla ice cream or cake.

Rhubarb Chutney
In a heavy saucepan combine:
2 cups of diced rhubarb or more
1cup of peeled and cored quince
or 1 cup of cranberries
1 cup chopped peeled apples
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped onions
2 ½ cups of brown sugar
1 cup of cider vinegar
1 cup apple juice
½ tablespoon of ginger
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
Stir constantly and bring to a boil.
Lower heat and cook slowly for about one
hour and then put into hot sterilized jars.

Heavenly Rhubarb Jam
5 cups of chopped rhubarb
5 cups of sugar (I put less)
1 – 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple
Boil the mixture hard for 20 minutes or until
it’s well cooked. Remove the mixture from the
heat and stir in 2 packages of strawberry jello
powder. Put the jam into hot sterilized jars.

Rhubarb Punch
3 pounds of rhubarb cut into small pieces
3 quarts of water
Cook until the rhubarb falls apart then
squeeze through a cheese cloth.

Add
3 cups of sugar and allow the mixture to cool.
Add 1 cup orange juice or 1 cup pineapple juice
pinch of salt. Taste and sweeten more if desired.
Chill and just before serving add 1 quart of
ginger ale or add ginger to glasses as
served.

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