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I've just been reading about the different varieties of rhubarb, and their names are wholesome beyond belief.
"Hawke's Champagne"
"Timperley Early"
"Glaskin's Perpetual"
"Grandad’s Favourite"
"Reed’s Early Superb"
"Hawke's Champagne"
"Timperley Early"
"Glaskin's Perpetual"
"Grandad’s Favourite"
"Reed’s Early Superb"
Almost all out of season ("forced") rhubarb comes from the 9 sq mile "Rhubarb Triangle" in West Yorkshire.
The Great Northern Railway used to run a nightly Rhubarb Express between December and April, delivering 200 tons of rhubarb to Spitalfields Market.
The Great Northern Railway used to run a nightly Rhubarb Express between December and April, delivering 200 tons of rhubarb to Spitalfields Market.
Yorkshire appears to have been picked because its cold, wet weather was nearest to rhubarb's home on the Russian Steppe, and because of the ready availability of "night soil" (human shit) from industrial towns to use as fertiliser in the complicated process of forcing rhubarb.
Forced rhubarb is grown to a 200 year old method.
Plants are kept outside for 2 years without being allowed to grow. They're then moved inside a huge, pitch black shed, where the lack of sunlight means the nutrients in the roots "force" them to grow without photosynthesis.
Plants are kept outside for 2 years without being allowed to grow. They're then moved inside a huge, pitch black shed, where the lack of sunlight means the nutrients in the roots "force" them to grow without photosynthesis.
This results in growth so quick you can hear a popping sound as the roots send up new shoots as high as possible in a desperate search for sunlight. The stalks grow about 4 inches a day.
This makes them sweeter, more tender and pinker than the outdoor-grown summer crop.
This makes them sweeter, more tender and pinker than the outdoor-grown summer crop.
Finally it's harvested, by candlelight - as in this clip.
The reason given is that any light getting to the leaves will give a signal to the root to stop pumping sugar into the stems.
But you can also tell that tradition is important to the farmers.
The reason given is that any light getting to the leaves will give a signal to the root to stop pumping sugar into the stems.
But you can also tell that tradition is important to the farmers.
