Vegetable
Rheum rhabarbarum
S tier
Rheum rhabarbarum is garden rhubarb—thick sour petioles cooked as a fruit-like vegetable with sugar, while leaves are toxic with oxalates. Stalks range green to deep red; flavour is bright, tart, and green-apple acidic. Cold climates suit crown production. Stew, pie, fool, or roast with strawberries. Species covers culinary stalk rhubarb. Never eat the leaf blades.
Track this ingredient
Unit
Characteristics
Preparations
CrumbleJamPieRoast StrawberryStew Fool
Traits
Celery Like StalkCold Climate CrownDessert SourSour Edible PetioleSpecies PrimarySpecies UmbrellaTartToxic Leaf Blade
History
CN
Asian Rheum species were used medicinally long before European dessert rhubarb.
GB
European gardens adopted rhubarb; culinary stalk use grew later.
GB
Cheap sugar made rhubarb pies and fools a British staple.
Forced indoor rhubarb and frozen packs extended the season.