The particulars
Season
February–May
Picked
Pulled by hand, never cut
Tastes of
Sour apple, pink grapefruit, sorrel
Field notes
Our rhubarb comes in two acts. The first is forced: crowns lifted in winter and brought into dark, warm sheds, where the stalks grow quickly, pale pink and tender, looking for light they are not given. The second is field rhubarb, greener, sharper and a good deal less delicate.
Forced stalks are pulled by hand from February, traditionally by candlelight so the leaves stay yellow. Field rhubarb follows in April and runs until the end of May, after which the plants are left alone to recover.
The stalks are trimmed, chopped and pressed cold, never stewed, which keeps the juice clear and the colour somewhere between pink and embarrassed. We blend the two pressings: the forced for scent, the field for backbone. The leaves, which are poisonous, go to the compost heap.
