Results tagged “rhubarb”

This cake is so easy - you can throw it together in ten minutes.  It always goes down really well when we make it in cooking classes.  Rhubarb, orange and yoghurt make a delicious combination.  But you could omit the orange flower water, or substitute rose water, or just use vanilla.  Enjoy the cake warm or cold, at tea time or for dessert.  It pairs beautifully with a dollop of creamy yoghurt.  The recipe is adapted from one by Leanne Kitchen.  

No, not the scrawled 1970s cartoon or the tooth-wrenching sweet of my childhood, or even the early '90s hardcore rave anthem of my (very brief) clubbing days, but instead some delicious vanilla petits pots de crème (very French) with some bright pink rhubarb scented with orange zest (very English). 

I was inspired to make this by a vanilla panna cotta with rhubarb which I enjoyed at Cotto, by far the best restaurant in Cambridge at the moment.  Rhubarb has just hit Cambridge market, so I wasn't surprised to find it on the menu at Cotto, which makes a point of using local, organic and seasonal produce.  Not wanting to get involved with gelatin this particular afternoon, I changed it to pots de crème.  They were easy, beautiful and delicious.

Rhubarb originates from Mongolia.  The word was coined in medieval Latin and derives from 'Rha' (old name for the Volga river) and 'barbarum' (foreign) - ie a vegetable from the foreign lands east of the Volga.

Rhubarb was pronounced a 'fruit' in 1947 by confused US customs officials who opted to classify by its use in desserts rather than its botanical status.

But rhubarb as pudding, even as food, is a relatively recent concept.  For centuries it was used in China and elsewhere purely for medicinal purposes.  Rhubarb is a great laxative, if you eat enough.

Thank you so much for all the votes.  The rhubarb was the clear winner, with the broad bean tagliatelle and chive butter chops in joint second place, so you might get them another day.  These canapes look much too pretty and taste much too good to only take half an hour to make.  I hope you like them too.
 
The recipe is adapted from one I learnt while assisting a class at the Tante Marie Cooking School.  It’s originally from Bon Appétit magazine.  I’ve tried it with all sorts of dried and fresh fruits, and each way works well.  If you want it to taste predominantly of rhubarb, just make sure there is much more of this than any other fruit.  Using a combination of cherries or cranberries (dried or fresh) and rhubarb produces a bright red chutney which looks great on the white cheese.  You can also try different liqueurs and spirits, eg brandy.  I think it works well with a creamy cheese with enough flavour not to be totally dominated by the intensely flavoured chutney.  A stinking, oozing washed rind cheese makes a fantastic pairing, but I realise that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

So... my news this week goes roughly like this:

1) I have just resigned from my job as UK programme director for LCD (an international education development agency), where I worked for 10 years, which feels very odd but is a fantastic opportunity to drink lots of champagne.

2) I shall now be pursuing a rather dramatic career change, in the direction of food, cooking, education and the like, which feels a bit odd, but is a great opportunity to drink lots of champagne.

I will miss working with my old colleagues immensely, but insist that they all come round for dinner once I'm back in London.  They can rest assured nobody will have to take minutes.