Mad about - rhubarb

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about my favorite fruits and asked is rhubarb a fruit?

Well technically the answer is "no"

Rhubarb or Rheum rhabarbarum is a member of the buckwheat family.
Originally grown by people in the region of Mongolia it has been cultivated for over 3000 years!


It's a very showy plant with it's large green leaves and red stems. It wouldn't look out of place in your garden.
Unfortunately we didnt think that many years ago and pulled out a very old crown of rhubarb that was growing in our rockery.
I remember my grandmother used to grow it and we used to love going to her house and picking the young stalks, she would give us egg cups with sugar in and we used to dip the rhubarb in the sugar (our poor teeth!)

Rhubarb is very high in fibre, so it's very good for you.
It can also be a laxative ; }
- but I'll let you decide if that's a good thing or not!

Despite my childhood escapades rhubarb is best cooked.
You remove the leaves and throw them away or compost them because they are toxic.
Wash the stalks and cut into 1" lengths.

You can just stew it with some sugar, but it also goes well with apples (peeled,cored and chopped) or strawberries.

You can make -
Rhubarb pie, crumble, jam, muffins, cake or sauce.

There is a whole site dedicated to rhubarb recipes.

I also love rhubarb yogurt : )

Here is a great recipe for rhubarb and apple crisp.


You need about 4 cups of cut fruit - rhubarb and apple.
Put them in an oven -proof dish.

Mix together
1 1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter or oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Sprinkle over the fruit.
Cook for 30 mins at 180 degrees C.

Have you got any favorite ways with rhubarb?

images from enjoy gardening, rhubarb recipes, sheknows, freerecipes.org