Rhubarb in rude health
Vegetable soup with cheese and rhubarb croute; champagne and rhubarb sorbet; pan-fried duck breast with honey and rhubarb glaze; parsnip and rhubarb mash; salmon poached in olive oil with raw rhubarb; cucumber and mint salad all a far cry from the stewed rhubarb and lumpy custard of our schooldays.
Rhubarb originates from the banks of the Volga. It was transported down the Old Silk Road to China, where its use in medicine was recorded in 2700BC. Marco Polo brought it to Europe and it arrived in these islands in the 18th century. It was used in Britain to treat stomach, colon and liver illnesses, but is now promoted as a way to lower cholesterol. Its ability to raise calcium levels makes it a good treatment for brittle-bone disease.
