Michelle Darmody: sweet, intricate rhubarb

Early in the season rhubarb is forced by covering the plants to prevent light from reaching them. There are beautiful purpose-made terracotta pots available to do this — they are dome-shaped and cover the crown of the plant. However, you do not need one of these to force your rhubarb — a wooden box or an upside-down bin will do. Blocking the light encourages the plants to make early growth. The stalks can be harvested when they reach about 20cm in length.

Forced rhubarb stalks are a subtle rosy pink and often long and thin. Their flavour is more delicate than rhubarb harvested later in the year and they generally do not need too much sweetening.