Rhubarb

Rheum rhabarbarum · Vegetable

40 pairings

Rhubarb is a hardy perennial grown for its thick, fleshy leaf stalks, which range from deep crimson through pink to green and carry an intense, mouth-puckering sourness that has to be tamed with sugar. Botanically a vegetable but used almost everywhere as a fruit, it is the spring filling of pies, crumbles, fools and compotes — and the leaf blades atop those stalks are poisonous and never eaten.

Picking a good onedrag

Stiff, glossy, snaps wetLimp, pithy, soft at the ends

Market freshThe all-rounder for pies, crumbles, compote and jam. Only the blade is poisonous - cut it off and bin it; the stalk needs no peeling unless it is coarse and stringy.Everyday best

The leaf endStub clean, blade limp or yellowed; the join still tight and pale

The stalkTaut but matte, a shade duller, the cut ends still wet

The snapSnaps, but the break face is only damp

What to look for, from stiff, glossy, snaps wet to limp, pithy, soft at the ends.

Preparing