A.K.A

pie plant

What is it?

Rosy-red, sweet-tart rhubarb is a harbinger of spring, the first fruit to come into season. Actually, though it’s usually treated as a fruit and used mainly in desserts, rhubarb is technically a vegetable. The edible parts are the fleshy, celery-like stalks—in fact, the leaves are poisonous, which is why you’ll never see them attached at the market.

When used in desserts, rhubarb needs a good amount of sugar to offset its tartness. The simplest way to cook rhubarb is to simmer it in a little liquid with sugar for a compote or a sauce. Rhubarb releases a lot of liquid as it cooks, so if you plan to use it in a pie or crumble, you need to add a thickener, such as tapioca or cornstarch.

How to choose:

寻找公司,脆,br无暇疵的茎ight, intense red color. Do note, though, the color, which can range from green streaked with pink to deep red, depending on the variety and the way it was grown, is not an indicator of ripeness or flavor. Fresher stalks will be more intensely flavored. Choose thinner stalks, as larger ones can be overly stringy and tough.

How to prep:

Trim off the ends and any bits of leaves still attached. While the huge ruffled leaves of the rhubarb plant are truly impressive, they’re not for eating. They contain oxalic acid, a toxin that should not be ingested in large amounts.

Peel the fibrous exterior only if it’s very tough. Cut rhubarb as you would celery, into slices or small dice, depending on the recipe.

How to store:

Wrap the stalks tightly in plastic and refrigerate them; they should stay crisp for up to five days. You can also freeze sliced or diced rhubarb in plastic bags for up to six months. Frozen rhubarb tends to release more liquid and doesn’t hold its shape as well as fresh rhubarb, so use it where texture is not essential, such as in muffins.

When long stalks of rhubarb flood farmers’ markets and produce aisles from April to June,preserve rhubarb by making jam, which requires only a handful of ingredients. The jam can be canned and stored for up to a year.

Recipes

• 
  Recipe

  Strawberry-Rhubarb Blitz Torte

  Possibly called “blitz” because the stunning cake can be baked, cooled, and assembled quickly compared to traditional layer cakes, this dessert is a showstopper. Tender, golden cake layers are topped…

• 
  Recipe

  Sour Cream Panna Cotta with Rhubarb Compote

  This extra-rich and tangy panna cotta will set up a little faster than a traditional one because of the sour cream’s higher fat content. It's accented with a quick compote…

• 
  Recipe

  Rhubarb Ice Cream Shortcake with Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote

  Rhubarb, with its sweet-tart tang and rosy hue, is the pastry chef’s asparagus—one of the early but certain signs that spring has arrived. Unapologetically astringent in its raw form, rhubarb…

• 
  Recipe

  Strawberry-Rhubarb-Pecan Crisps

  Crisp and toasty on top, luscious and sweet-tart underneath, these are a great no-fuss dessert for a casual dinner party.

• 
  Recipe

  Pavlova with Red-Wine-Roasted Rhubarb and Raspberries

  Crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, the pavlova shell is a classic frothy meringue. You can make it ahead and store it, completely cooled, in an airtight…

• 
  Recipe

  Strawberry-Rhubarb Fool

  A fool is an old-fashioned English dessert, but it never goes out of style because it’s simple, delicious, and beautiful. Plus, any fool can make it since it’s only a…

• 
  Recipe

  Rhubarb Lentil Soup

  In the Middle East, tamarind, a tangy fruit that grows in abundance there, is often paired with lentils. Rhubarb adds similar bright, sour notes to this fragrant soup. A generous…