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No visit to a Melbourne farmers market is complete without one of Di McDonald’s tangy rhubarb tarts with a thick dollop of clotted cream. Easily scoffed in three bites, one tart (sometimes two!) sets me on my way for a morning of market shopping.
Di has been growing her sweet, ruby-red rhubarb for sixteen years and works a plot of land at the Tahbilk Estate winery in Nagambie, Victoria. To say she is passionate about rhubarb is an understatement. Anyone who has purchased Di’s rhubarb will have been told in no uncertain terms that it does not need water. She recommends 125g of raw sugar per bunch, and nothing more. One morning when making breakfast at the Slow Food Mebourne breakfast stall, I stopped by Di’s stall for some rhubarb and let slip that I was thinking of doing an apple and rhubarb compote. ‘Apple? You can’t put apple with my rhubarb,’ she instructed. ‘It doesn’t need it; just a little bit of sugar and nothing else.’
For me, apples and rhubarb are a classic combination, but it was too early in the morning to argue. ‘How much for a bag?’ I ask. ‘Nothing, if you don’t add rhubarb,’ she replied. Sounds like a deal, I thought to myself (I later paid her anyway). Di handed me five bags of her gloriously ruby-red rhubarb; somewhat sulkily, I wandered back to my stall. I made the compote, adding two sticks of vanilla. Rhubarb is so well served by vanilla’s creamy decadence that I decided this could not possibly cause offense. When I wandered past Di’s stall at the end of the market, she asked how it went. I proudly announced that I sold out of her rhubarb and assured here that no apples were involved—just a little sugar and some vanilla. Wrong answer. ‘My rhubarb doesn’t need vanilla!’ she grumbled, ‘Why can’t you just enjoy the taste of the rhubarb? We never get to taste food on its own anymore. Everything tastes like something else.’ She was right, but unfortunately not even Di’s wrath is enough to come between me and a fresh, oily vanilla bean. As much as I love celebrating the intense flavour of seasonal produce grown by farmers like Di who give heart and soil to their plants and soil, I’m also too pig-headed to relinquish all artistic license in the kitchen.
Di is understandably particular about how her rhubarb is cooked because she works so hard to grow the best possible product. She farms year-round and raises her 7,000 plants without chemicals to ensure they are healthy and well fed with soil that is rich in manure and compost. The tops of the rhubarb, which are toxic due to the high concentration of oxalic acid, are a great resource for her compost. The toxins break down in the compost so there is no problem throwing the leaves in the heap if you grow it at home.
Although rhubarb has made a regular appearance in recipes of northern Europe for centuries, its origins are Chinese. Technically a vegetable rather than a fruit, its relatives are sorrel and buckwheat. The vibrant rosy-pink blush of rhubarb seems at odds with its rather unkind scientific name, Rheum rhabarbarum, which comes from the Latin meaning ‘root of the barbarian.’ Despite its name, rhubarb was almost as important as tea in the trade routes between China and the West. Chinese rhubarb root was found in European pharmacies as early as the seventeenth century, used as a purgative rather than its culinary qualities.
Rhubarb is dead easy to cook and the perfect way to celebrate the arrival of spring. Its high acid content reacts with aluminium so always use a non-reactive pot such as stainless steel or enamel. Poached and added to porridge, yoghurt or muesli, it is a decadent and soothing start to the morning. Pistachios add extra crunch and colour.
Just don’t tell Di I said so.
Rhubarb and blood orange pavlova
My German flatmate once taught me how to cook her mother’s sour rhubarb cake topped with meringue. This recipe brings together the austere sourness of rhubarb and tangy vibrancy of blood orange with the flouncy, sweet meringue of a pavlova. Stephanie Alexander’s pavlova in A Cook’s Companion is a tried and true recipe and great starting point for those uninitiated into the art of making the perfect pav. Every domestic oven is different so don’t despair if it’s not perfect the first time.
4 egg whites
pinch of salt
250g castor sugar
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp white wine vinegar
few drops of vanilla extract
300 ml cream, firmly whipped
500g bunch of rhubarb tops and tails removed
100g raw sugar
Juice of one blood orange
Preheat oven to 160C. Remove leaves and wash the rhubarb. Cut evenly into 3cm pieces. Place in a roasting dish in a single layer. Sprinkle with sugar, and pour the orange juice over the rhubarb pieces. Cover with foil, and bake for 15-20 minutes until the rhubarb is slightly firm and bathed in a ruby-red syrup. Allow to cool with the foil on. The rhubarb should continue to soften as it cools.
While the rhubarb is cooling, increase the oven temperature to 180C. Line a tray with baking paper. Draw a 20cm circle on the paper. Beat egg whites and salt until satiny peaks form. Beat in sugar, a third at a time, until meringue is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle cornflour, vinegar and vanilla, and fold in lightly. Mound onto paper-lined baking tray within the circle, and flatten top and smooth sides.
Place in oven, immediately reduce heat to 150C and cook for 75 mins. Turn off the oven, leaving the pavlova in it to cool completely. Invert the pavlova onto a platter, pile on cream and spoon over the poached rhubarb.
Rhubarb and ginger jam
Ginger brings a lovely, zingy warmth to this classic rhubarb jam. The quanity of ginger should be to taste as some like it gingery than others.
3 kilograms of rhubarb (tops and tails removed)
2.3 kilograms of raw sugar
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
4-5cm knob of ginger
50g crystallised ginger (optional)
Wash rhubarb stalks carefully. Cut evenly into 3cm pieces and place into a deep dish, creating layers with the sugar. Allow to macerate overnight, the longer the better. Stirring occasionally will help the process. The sugar will extract the juice from the rhubarb and create a gloriously pink liquid.
Prepare your jars for jam as you would normally. Strain the rhubarb from the liquid. Add the lemon zest and juice to the liquid, along with the crystallised ginger and most (but not all) of the grated ginger. Boil the liquid for 30 minutes in a generous stainless steel pot, stirring frequently. Skim off any foam. Add the rhubarb pieces, and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Halfway through this process, taste the mixture to see if more ginger is needed. Check for set by dropping a teaspoon on a cold saucer. Leave it for 30 seconds. If it wrinkles when you push it with your finger, it’s ready. If not, cook a few minutes longer. Don’t panic if your jam doesn’t set. Mine often doesn’t, and with rhubarb, it makes very little difference to the quality of the final product. Ladle into the sterilised jars, and seal.
Mackerel with rhubarb and horseradish
This bold recipe by Irish chef Richard Corrigan makes wonderful use of rhubarb in a savoury application. The tartness of rhubarb cuts through the oiliness of the fish while the richness of the crème fraiche balances its astringency.
Generous knob of butter
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
A knob of fresh horseradish
10 stalks of rhubarb
1 tablespoon of sugar
100g crème fraiche
1 shallot, finely diced
Small bunch of chives, finely diced
8 large fresh mackerel fillets (Spanish, School or Spotted mackerel are the more sustainable option)
Lightly sweat onion and garlic in the butter with a pinch of salt until soft. Finely grate the horseradish and add to the pan, leaving a little to the side. Wash and thinly slice the rhubarb, and add to the pan with sugar. Cool on low heat for about 10 minutes until the rhubarb is tender but still holding its shape. Taste and add more sugar if needed, but go easy; it should retain an earthy and tart quality. Whip the crème fraiche and add the shallots, chives and the rest of the grated horseradish. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Season the mackerel fillets and place under a hot grill, skin side up, for 4-5 minutes until just cooked. Serve the fish with a generous spoonful of warm rhubarb and crème fraiche each plate.
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