The Grown Up Taste of Rhubarb

The Grown Up Taste of Rhubarb

by dale reinert, food editor

I just didn’t understand it. I was nine years old and tears were streaming down my cheeks as the east wall of the garage came crashing down on my first veggie patch. What I did understand was my parents’ care in making sure that not a single shingle or rusty nail land on the southern side of the garage where the rhubarb stalks stood.

Back on the eastside my tomatoes were crushed; my cucumbers smashed, but the southern wall as braced and gently nudged so it would collapse northward.

Rhubarb is beyond bitter. It’s sour, sour, sour. I am often amazed that humankind ever figured out how to make use of it, like the thistle-like cardoons. As an adult, however, I have come to understand how the sweetness of sugar (or strawberries) plays so wonderful against the backdrop of rhubarb. Here are some of my favorite Midwestern dishes made by some of my Midwestern favorite people.