tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post5452336188302574257..comments2024-03-20T11:36:53.907+00:00Comments on Restoring Mayberry: What else you can do with rhubarbBrian Kallerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11082602126850605083noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post-50780636884814713502016-04-12T16:29:40.693+01:002016-04-12T16:29:40.693+01:00As kids, we would simply eat raw rhubarb dipped in...As kids, we would simply eat raw rhubarb dipped in sugar and it's one of my happier memories as a spring treat.<br /><br />That said, my teeth are not good.DavidThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00574548616439154876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post-90601111049630509362016-04-09T23:37:28.794+01:002016-04-09T23:37:28.794+01:00Leo, I need to try the rhubarb/ginger jam -- thank...Leo, I need to try the rhubarb/ginger jam -- thanks. <br /><br />Diane, I will also make rhubarb wine sometime -- I just bottled last year's elderflower wine tonight, and last week bottled last year's cowslip and meadowsweet wine. I'm clearing the carboys for this year's batches, and I plan to try parsnip again, dandelion and something else. You all have inspired me to make it rhubarb. <br /><br />Vivi, this was one of the most informative comments I've ever received -- thank you! We grow garlic chives -- I just used some in my egg drop soup this morning. I wondered about ground elder at first -- I tried it, and it was edible but unpleasant -- but then I realised that what we call ground elder was not the plant you mean. The plant you mean is supposed to be found here in Ireland, but we've never seen it. I will look for it, though, and take your advice!<br /><br />I take your point about "ancestors," but I'm comfortable for using it for people a century or two ago. :-)Brian Kallerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11082602126850605083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post-20866608676816656482016-04-09T15:08:55.216+01:002016-04-09T15:08:55.216+01:00If you're looking for a perennial early spring...If you're looking for a perennial early spring vegetable that was actually grown in Europe in the middle ages (it was probably brought into Western / Northern Europe by the Romans and then monks), you'll want to have a look at ground elder / goutweed / bishop's weed / English masterwort (Aegopodium podagraria). Yes, it's considered an invasive weed today, but there's a reason it's mostly found in old kitchen gardens and parks: unlike other weeds, it needs very humous, moist, nitrogen-rich soil. It likes shade, which means you can grow it far away from your vegetable beds (ours mostly grows directly at the foot of the north side of a garden wall, in a place that's overgrown with non-evergreen ferns later in the year), it comes up as soon as the ground thaws without any human intervention (we don't fertilise or even water the area - leaf litter from the Virginia creeper growing on the wall and a perforated drainage pipe directing excess rainwater from a roof downspout along the wall seem to be perfectly sufficient - and that even though our natural soil beneath the thin humus accumulation is nutrient-poor, fast-draining sand), and it's rich in vitamin C (but it's not tart like sorrel; it tastes more like parsley). As far as I've heard, quite a few people were saved from scurvy during the post-war hunger winter in Central Europe by collecting ground elder. <br /><br />If you try to collect it 'wild' in parks or for example among the ruins of an old monastery, be careful not to collect similar, poisonous plants (such as water hemlock) - ground elder is the only species in the family with triangular stems. The many young leaves coming up right about now are best for eating (ideally before they're even fully unfurled) - once the leaves get hand-sized and tough, and especially after the plant flowers, it can cause diarrhea. But then, so can rhubarb, in larger amounts. In my family, we use the ground elder mostly as a substitute for parsley in root vegetable stews and such, until the real parsley has grown in early summer. But if you collect a few hands full (not difficult - as I said, the stuff spreads invasively through lawns and garden beds with perennial herbs or ornamentals if you don't put in root barriers, though I find that it's not much of a problem in sunny, often worked vegetable beds) then you can cook it like spinach with fried onions or a little garlic. Or with the garlic-tasting perennial wild chives (Allium schoenoprasum), which sprout even earlier, about the same time as snowdrops (and which also tolerate shade and tend to colonise the lawn via spreading by ants, though clumps transplanted into a proper garden bed produce somewhat thicker stalks and don't get yellow from drought/heat as quickly; some of our wild chives share a bed with a large spearmint patch (for tisane), which comes up later than the chives, when they're mostly done for the year anyway. Or maybe you could plant it underneath fruit trees as a companion to help ward off fungal diseases. If you don't live in an area where wild chives occur naturally - I think it's a forest plant - many seed companies have been offering seeds for so-called "garlic chives" lately (Allium tuberosum), which look different but taste the same and also come up perennially in early spring. Though they seem to be rather less resilient / more nutrient-needy, and I haven't had much luck yet getting them to spread on their own.). Like spinach, ground elder is good with potatoes, and maybe some fried sausages, fish or scrambled eggs. Or as a green sauce to noodles with some parmesan. Or with onions and cottage cheese or egg whites as a filling for ravioli.Vivinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post-43035657702080849562016-04-09T15:04:40.208+01:002016-04-09T15:04:40.208+01:00I just had rhubarb yesterday (sadly not our own - ...I just had rhubarb yesterday (sadly not our own - our plants died and the garden center where I wanted to buy new ones last Monday ran out before I got there at noon...). Since baking a whole rhubarb cake from scratch is a lot of work, we usually just make it into a simple compote (just cook it with sugar until it falls apart) and serve that with warm or cold vanilla semolina. Or we put the semolina into the rhubarb compote and serve the resulting "green groats" cold with vanilla sauce or icecream. I've had rhubarb-and-strawberry yoghurt, too, though store-bought, not made from scratch. What's important is the dairy component. It helps cut down on the "fuzzy teeth" effect, and the calcium reduces the absorption of the oxalic acid in the body (the stuff can cause kidney stones and other problems, which is why you don't eat the rhubarb leaves that contain more oxalic acid than the stems), as well as making up for the calcium in your blood stream that's lost through binding to the oxalic acid once it's absorbed. <br /><br />As for how traditional the growing of rhubarb is in Europe... Well, "ancestors" is maybe stretching it a bit. Rhubarb is native to China, not Europe, and while even the Romans used to import "rha barbaricum" through the silk road, it was a mysterious medical powder, not a vegetable. Since the trade with the stuff was very lucrative, the Chinese made sure to keep the origins a secret. (It wasn't until the latter half of the 19th century that a Western (Russian) natural scientist finally found out the exact origin species and where it grows.) Some seeds of various rhubarb varieties made it out of China through the ages anyway, of course, but it was only grown as an exotic ornamental until quite recently. I don't know if the Chinese traditionally use rhubarb as a vegetable, but the kitchen rhubarb used in Europe is a hybrid of some of these ornamental varieties that was developed in Britain, and it wasn't used for eating until the early 19th century.Vivinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post-26167007187379531832016-04-08T23:50:14.184+01:002016-04-08T23:50:14.184+01:00Every few years I can (jar?) a few half-pints of V...Every few years I can (jar?) a few half-pints of Victoria Sauce from the Ball canning<br />book. It resembles a sweet chutney and goes very well with pork. I have also made<br />rhubarb and strawberry/rhubarb wine. The salad sounds interesting and rhubarb/ginger<br />jam sounds fantastic.Dianenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post-71579349143154096572016-04-06T13:52:33.638+01:002016-04-06T13:52:33.638+01:00This brings back memories of my mother's rhuba...This brings back memories of my mother's rhubarb tart. A much anticipated dessert after Sunday dinner.<br /><br />I've also had rhubarb and ginger jam - very tasty!Leohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11760109773610919877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post-15176662376722843122016-04-06T13:07:59.088+01:002016-04-06T13:07:59.088+01:00Andy, I should try that -- I also should add that ...Andy, I should try that -- I also should add that we soaked rhubarb in brandy for a year, and that was great too. <br /><br />Florence, let me know how it goes!Brian Kallerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11082602126850605083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post-80650701028624338922016-04-06T01:39:30.571+01:002016-04-06T01:39:30.571+01:00I've never eaten rhubarb. I see it in the groc...I've never eaten rhubarb. I see it in the grocery store but have never tried it. The rhubarb and cucumber salad looks like a possibility. I'll let you know how it turns out. Florencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01157294752967287405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5811749743523633503.post-640050946936772102016-04-06T00:48:25.198+01:002016-04-06T00:48:25.198+01:00It also makes a very nice white wine! I have one ...It also makes a very nice white wine! I have one bottle left from my 2014 vintage and am waiting to repeat the experiment once again.Anubis Bardhttp://anubisbard.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com