It's a fine point, but just after I published this piece, I heard from Christian Sauvé of Rhubarborium, who offered new information about the origins of the variety Canada Red. In the text, I've added a date for it, really a range, because that's all we have. George Chipman developed Canada Red about a century ago at his experimental gardens outside Winnipeg. He planted several existing varieties, which cross-pollinated, and he repeatedly selected and resowed seed from the best plants.
Have you tried the combination with raspberries? Lightly cooked rhubarb, raspberries only added at the end. Served with a very light vanilla bavaroise. One of my absolute favorites.
I'll try raspberries; your description sounds convincing. I can imagine raspberries would succeed where to me strawberries don't, although the raspberry and rhubarb seasons don't overlap as much.
Ed, I took a devilish delight in your terse dismissal of the strawberry-rhubarb pie! I have never understood it. It always seemed as though the rhubarb was being used as a filler for the pie, and yet, strawberries are sufficiently abundant and cheap (well, perhaps I should be careful assuming that is true in Trump 2.0 America!) that nothing would be gained by that exercise. Also, tastes differ, but a cooked strawberry pie never appealed to me (the strawberry can never stand up to apple, cherry, peach or even blueberry in a pie) when one can stack a bunch of perfectly ripe strawberries in a good pie crust and drown them in whipped cream (adding strawberry-flavored goo if one must!). I have not had rhubarb here in Italy, but it is around in season, and i italiani do eat it. (And yes, the strawberry-rhubarb torta is found here, too!) It is funny, but many Italian recipes elect to call rhubarb "Nordic" or "German" in passing. Lastly, the Persian idea of lamb and rhubarb really appeals to me, so I may look into that. The Italians apparently use rhubarb in a range of dishes with fish and roasted meats...
Love this post. When I was young, we would go and visit my grandparents every summer in southern Idaho. They had a huge garden, a bright spot of greenery in otherwise drab part of the country. Of all the things in it, rhubarb was Papa's favorite. He was the baker and he had so many delicious ways to serve it. I think of him every time I have some (including last weekend in a cheese cake I had at a restaurant!).
It's a fine point, but just after I published this piece, I heard from Christian Sauvé of Rhubarborium, who offered new information about the origins of the variety Canada Red. In the text, I've added a date for it, really a range, because that's all we have. George Chipman developed Canada Red about a century ago at his experimental gardens outside Winnipeg. He planted several existing varieties, which cross-pollinated, and he repeatedly selected and resowed seed from the best plants.
Have you tried the combination with raspberries? Lightly cooked rhubarb, raspberries only added at the end. Served with a very light vanilla bavaroise. One of my absolute favorites.
I'll try raspberries; your description sounds convincing. I can imagine raspberries would succeed where to me strawberries don't, although the raspberry and rhubarb seasons don't overlap as much.
Ed, I took a devilish delight in your terse dismissal of the strawberry-rhubarb pie! I have never understood it. It always seemed as though the rhubarb was being used as a filler for the pie, and yet, strawberries are sufficiently abundant and cheap (well, perhaps I should be careful assuming that is true in Trump 2.0 America!) that nothing would be gained by that exercise. Also, tastes differ, but a cooked strawberry pie never appealed to me (the strawberry can never stand up to apple, cherry, peach or even blueberry in a pie) when one can stack a bunch of perfectly ripe strawberries in a good pie crust and drown them in whipped cream (adding strawberry-flavored goo if one must!). I have not had rhubarb here in Italy, but it is around in season, and i italiani do eat it. (And yes, the strawberry-rhubarb torta is found here, too!) It is funny, but many Italian recipes elect to call rhubarb "Nordic" or "German" in passing. Lastly, the Persian idea of lamb and rhubarb really appeals to me, so I may look into that. The Italians apparently use rhubarb in a range of dishes with fish and roasted meats...
Love this post. When I was young, we would go and visit my grandparents every summer in southern Idaho. They had a huge garden, a bright spot of greenery in otherwise drab part of the country. Of all the things in it, rhubarb was Papa's favorite. He was the baker and he had so many delicious ways to serve it. I think of him every time I have some (including last weekend in a cheese cake I had at a restaurant!).