I absolutely adore rhubarb. From ice cream to fools, through jams and crumbles to granitas there is nothing in which I do not enjoy it's tart presence. We recently planted 4 large Timperley early plants in the allotment and watching them grow in their own, lovingly prepared bed, has given me much pleasure. I love watching the dainty pink shoots come out of the ground, a harbinger of summer eating.
One thing not to love about it, however, is the astronomical price in the supermarkets. This would appear to have something to do with the Delia effect and you can easily pay over £3 for a few piffling, sad looking stems. Rhubarb seems to have turned into the fruit equivalent of lamb shank - previously a cheap cut of meat happily minding it's own business in the fridges of canny cooks. Chefs have turned these "forgotten" cuts of meat from bargain basement to premium and made them unaffordable everyday. It's a shame; I liked being one of the few people really enthusiastic about rhubarb. Now I just look as if I am jumping on the Waitrose bandwagon.
Anyway, if you can manage to obtain some rhubarb, one of my favourite ways to enjoy it is simply roasted. You need very young stems, preferably champagne rhubarb. Trim off the ends, put in a roasting pan, slosh over some cava/champagne/fizz of some sort, bung in a quartered orange, a few star anise and a vanilla pod. Roast at around 160 for about 20 minutes. You could serve it cold with ice cream or crème fraîche but I find it best enjoyed warm from the oven.
This week's bakeoff also involved rhubarb in the form of very moist rhubarb cakes with soured cream and poached rhubarb topping. Delicious !
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