Gothic Leaf is forgiven

We just needed some time apart. The last time we were together, I had discovered several mistakes that I couldn't overcome, so I tried dropping stitches down a few rows to do repairs. Bad idea. Finally, after ignoring all knitting for over a week, Saturday morning I ripped out 7 or 8 rows and resumed knitting. All is well. I now have 8 of 24 repeats done. While this won't be finished in time for the Boy's graduation next weekend, it's moving right along. Didn't do any gift knitting, however.

I've been trying to work in the gardens.

The big picture is still not looking so good, but there are small moments of flowery goodness here and there.

We've been spending a lot of time with the goats, of course. They like going on evening walks out to the pond.

Here, Trooper brings my husband a clod of dirt attached to the grass she is eating. Note the left hoof on his forearm:

And last, I thought I'd share my latest column, a timely piece on a Vermont spring favorite, rhubarb. When Sarah came to visit, I told her how the column (which I had just finished) was all about rhubarb and how everybody loves it, and she said, "Yeah, but it tastes like s**t."

Which is the exact point of the column.

RHUBARB
Copyright © 2007 Jessie Raymond

Last weekend, at my annual perennial swap, I offended quite a few people, and not just because I kept running out of coffee. I made a single off-the-cuff remark that turned a civilized crowd ugly.

One of the guests had brought a rhubarb plant to give away. Soon a dozen or so people were sharing stories of their rhubarb patches, the rhubarb crisp their great-aunt used to make, and how, when they were little, they’d pick and eat the stalks right in the yard. Rhubarb is an old standard, and you’ll find it, along with apple trees and lilac bushes, wherever you find an old farmhouse. Everybody loves rhubarb.

We were discussing various rhubarb crisp recipes and everyone was fine until, during an unfortunate lull in the conversation, I said: “Of course, nobody actually likes the taste of rhubarb.”

Conversation stopped. A few people looked away and pretended to be debating between the black-eyed susans or the purple coneflowers. A few diehard rhubarb fans, however, took a step toward me and brandished their trowels in a menacing fashion.

How dare I malign a fruit (well, a stalk, anyway) that had grown in grandmother’s garden for generations? That had supplied spring’s bounty in the form of rhubarb crisp on the screened-in porch since one’s childhood? That hid under its elephantine leaves a tart red stem with myriad uses, although admittedly no one ever did anything with it except make rhubarb crisp or rhubarb jelly (which no one eats but which looks delightful in gift baskets)?

I stood my ground.

I don’t deny that many of us have wonderful associations with rhubarb. I myself have, every spring, gaily marched out to the backyard rhubarb patch and cut a dozen or so stalks (approximately .02 percent of the available harvest) to make my annual rhubarb crisp. After slicing the stalks into bite-sized pieces and adding a generous amount of sugar, about 3 cups, the mouth-numbing sour flavor can be camouflaged to the point of palatability and can be used in any crisp recipe. Garnished with enough vanilla ice cream, the rhubarb is barely detectable and the resulting crisp delicious.

I think a lot of people secretly agree with me: Rhubarb is a favorite more for the memories it evokes than for its distinctive flavor. So who decided it was good to eat in the first place? I suspect two hundred years ago, people ate rhubarb mainly because of a dearth of other dessert choices at this time of year. Just as people ate roots and berries and bark when food was scarce, I imagine they gravitated toward rhubarb (whose giant leaves are poisonous, by the way) because apples weren’t in season and bananas don’t grow here.

Here’s an analogy. In the 1600s, the Pilgrims sailed across the Atlantic. For six weeks, they ate hardtack, which is a fancy name for stale rolls. I doubt whether, if glazed donuts were available at the time, Miles Standish would have been lying below decks at midnight thinking, “Mm, I could go for a nice lump of hardtack. And maybe a tankard of brackish water.”

Remember, back in those days people ate things like pease porridge. Hot, cold, nine days old, whatever. They probably only had one pot, and if there was pease porridge in it, that was dinner until the pot was empty. With the introduction of refrigeration, Tupperware and Hamburger Helper, the popularity of well-aged pease porridge dropped off sharply.

And yet rhubarb endures.

Despite my conviction that rhubarb’s status is more about nostalgia than about taste, I feel bad about my comment at the perennial swap. As an apology, I’m extending an invitation to anyone who took offense: How about dinner at my house this Saturday?

I have some pease porridge that’s been sitting out since a week ago Thursday, so it should be ripe by the weekend. And I’ve got some hardtack desiccating in the pantry. Naturally, as a peace offering, I’ll whip up a nice rhubarb crisp.

If you could just bring a few gallons of vanilla ice cream, we’ll be all set.

Comments

[margene]

The goats look like a hoot to have around. As a kid I ate it raw and sorta, kinda liked it...but you're so right. Why is it rhubarb-strawberry pies are so popular? Can't we just have the strawberries?

[Carole]

I'm not a fan of rhubarb and I'm not afraid to admit it. :-)

[Sarah]

Well, so far no angry comments on my blog from the Americans for Rhubarb Association (AFRA)for admitting that rhubarb taste like s--t, but I'll give it a day or too. A friendly co-worker offered me some rhubarb-blueberry stew item the other day and, as she was handing it to me, noted that I may require an emergency trip to the bathroom if I ate too much. Yumm! Do I need to make reservations for the pease porridge and hardtack feast?

[Joan]

My grandmother used to grow rhubarb and raspberries right here in the back yard of the hosue I live in. I have great memories of harvesting the goodies for her as a child. She used to make raspberry-rhubard pies with it. Delicious! The tart rhubarb cut the cloying sweetness of the berries. Ages ago I found a great Martha Stewart recipe for rhubarb crumble. It required lots of sugar as I recall.

Bravo on the Gothic Leaf! I have 3 repeats done in hemp. Thanks for your help in deciphering that crazy row.

I am a sucker for your goats.

[Sharon]

I love rhubarb. Love it. In pies. In jam - I pay six bucks a jar for it, and get antsy when the jar is close to empty. And yes, I used to eat it the stalks straight from the yard when I was a kid. I was just asking the other day how I could get hold of a plant for my own yard. So there.
Love the pictures of the farm!

[Sharon]

Umm. I don't mean to take up more room, but, I was just reading my post and the 'so there' made it seem angry. It's not supposed to be. I was just like 'No way! Oh my gosh! I love that stuff.' I love to check your blog every week. You post beautiful pictures. And I'll still read it even though you're mean to rhubarb.

[Cynthia]

Put me on the rhubarb-loving side. It doesn't grow well down here, so every once in a while I buy it at the grocery store. Not often, though, because my husband hates it. His parents bring me their homemade rhubarb sauce when they visit, though, and I get it all to myself!

I'm glad the shawl's back on track.

[Stephanie]

I am firmly in the hate rhubarb, never going to grow it, and don't have any fond childhood memories of it category. I say if you like it, great. That way I can eat cherry pie or triple berry crisp and we're all happy. The goats are great! I've been thinking about lace a lot lately, but I've been holding off since I still have Butterfly to finish. Sigh. Your stole is gorgeous so far.

[Carla]

I think I've only had rhubarb ONCE in all my life, as a child, during the period of my life when my mom was a real hippie, and she fed us only from the meat she and dad raised, and from our huge organic garden (she got older, decided she hated gardening, and now could kill a plant by looking at it.. but thats another story)
In any case, I don't even remember what rhubarb pie tastes like. Or maybe it was crisp that I had? And I've never been inclined to actually buy it and make something myself.
Great article Jesse.. I love it! And the Gothic Leaf is coming along nicely as well!

[Helen]

Okay, I have to confess here. I just love strawberry rhubarb pie. The rhubarb's tang must be what is needed to keep a strawberry pie from being too sweet, since I don't like strawberry pie.
Never had a crisp though.
And the thought of rhubarb in any other use ... well.... never crossed my mind. But I love me a strawberry-rhubarb pie!

[lisa]

Funny about the rhubarb! Ours grew over the septic tank, and we all know what's in THERE. So it wasn't until I was 16 that I tasted Grammy's strawberry-rhubarb pie...mmm-hmmm yummy. Then I went away forever soonafter. But it was surely all that sugar, and the strawberries that made it taste so good. Love your daughter's red boots!

[Anne]

Add me in the staunchly anti-rhubarb camp. When I was a kid, my aunt had a rubarb patch that ate the backyard, so she tried to dig it up. Next year, still no backyard. My cousins and I tried to help "harvest" the offender so we could actually play in said backyard, and ended up having a rhubarb fight! Whacking the bejesus out of each other with red stalks was kinda fun. Of course, the yard looked like a rhubarb crisp factory exploded!

[Sheila]

I have very fond memories of eating rhubarb from the garden, just freshly plucked out of the ground. I think I would still like it if I could find some.

[KC]

I feel I must stand up and be counted as a true Rhubarb Lover!
In sauce, crisp, pie and most especially Cake! My favorite cake of all time is a traditional Fresh rhubarb cake and I will eat it above any other cake even chocolate cake! (Leave a comment on my blog if you want the recipe!)I wait all year for rhubarb and even freeze it so as not to run out over the winter. and Yes I am a Vermont girl born and raised so this is due in some part to tradition! Thanks for the great pictures and thought provoking column.

[Heide]

You know what? You are absolutely correct! At every home I've lived in I've planted rhubarb and then faithfully harvested, cubed and frozen it for winter use. But some spring I always have freezer-burned bags of slime which need to be thrown out. Now that I think about it, the topping was always my favorite part. Maybe this year at our new home I'll forego the traditional planting and end this tradition in our family!

[Kristen]

I often wonder too why people started eating certain foods, and how many died sampling the wrong plants. You have to think twice before eating something that is palatable only when disguised by something good which masks the taste.
Love the goats!

[Ruth]

I love Rhubarb. Spring does not officially arrive until the first bite of rhubarb cake. My MIL hated it until she had a taste of mine, and now will travel 3 hours for a bite! With or sans ice cream, it is delish!

[Robin]

I had never heard of rhubarb anything much less eaten any until I met my husband. We went to visit his parents in Indiana and his mother made rhubarb pie. She gave me the recipe. I guess anything would be good if you covered it with a pound of sugar and vanilla ice cream! Love the goat pictures!!

[jill]

Damn, you are good

[JessaLu]

Cute goats! I totally agree about the rhubarb ;o)

[michelle]

I hate rhubarb! In any form. But my dad likes his pie and rhubarb sauce. You find any in my garden. ; P

[Bethany]

Rhubarb just tastes like rhubarb! We used to eat the stalks raw when we were kids. Now I like it in cake, pie, crisps, and Nigella Lawson's Rhubarb Schnapps is lovely and oh, so pretty!

[Susan B]

Love it. Currently trying to grow it in my own garden!

Rhubarb fool is the summer dessert that I literally DREAM of......................

I'm actually thrilled to hear that there are people who don't like the taste of rhubarb - because that means there's more for me!!!!!

[Carol]

This is one time I'm glad I'm a city girl ;) The goats look like they've made themselves right at home!

[elizabeth]

Your flowers are beautiful!

My roommate made some strawberry-rhubarb crumble the other day and it was so bad that I think it has turned me off of rhubarb for the whole summer...I have no opinion on rhubarb, good or bad. Meh.