Rhubarb

Rhubarb is one of those plants you either love or hate. It makes great pies especially when combined with strawberries. It is a delicious jam, tart and flavorful. Rhubarb is one of those plants from my childhood that I remember vividly. Our neighbor across the alley had a patch growing behind his shed. We would always pull up a stalk and chew on it when it was young and tender. It was usually very sour but also refreshing at the same time. Normally you never finished the entire stalk but it would have gone to waste anyway as the neighbor was an elderly man who was letting his house go.

Now two things interested me about rhubarb. The first is that it is a vegetable and not a fruit. If you make jelly and pies with it then it must be a fruit. Well you have the same difference with the tomato which should be a vegetable but is actually a fruit. Rhubarb is related to sorrel, which is a green leaf vegetable that resembles spinach. Rhubarb is a perennial which means that it come up year after year without having to be replanted. The other interesting thing is that while the stalks are edible and rich in vitamin C and dietary fiber, the leaves are poisonous. They contain oxalic acid which causes the throat and tongue to swell and prevent breathing.

Rhubarb is originally from China and Tibet and migrated to Europe. It is now a staple in America and grows quite well here in the colonies. It was originally grown for medicinal purposes but in the 1800’s transitioned from medicine to food. Being rich in vitamin C, it was probably a poor man’s way to prevent scurvy. One of the things I remember about rhubarb sauce is that it left your teeth feeling funky. That is a by-product of the oxalic acid combining with the calcium in your saliva to leave coating on your teeth. It is not harmful if you consume the rhubarb in normal quantities. Then again, who is going to eat a couple pounds of it? It also makes a great laxative. And on that note….

Icool

Cobb