the edible stalks of Rheum rhabarbarum and two or three other species of the same genus, in the family Polygonaceae. Botanically, rhubarb is a vegetable; but the US Customs Court at Buffalo, NY, ruled in 1947 that it was a fruit, since that is how it is normally eaten.
Wild rhubarbs are all native to Asia. They prefer a cool climate and flourish especially in the general area of Mongolia and Siberia and in the vicinity of the Himalayas. The rhizomes and ‘crowns’ from which the leaf-bearing stalks grow survive readily in ground which is frozen during the winter.
Rhubarb was known in classical Greece and Rome as an imported dried root with medicinal qualities. Dioscorides (1st century ad) stated that the plant grew in the regions beyond the Bosporus.
There is some debate about how far back Chinese knowledge of rhubarb extends. Pen Khing's herbal, of about 2700 bc, listed it; but Laufer (1978) says the work is spurious. Others point out that in Chinese rhubarb has composite names (e.g. ta hwan, ‘the great yellow one’), which are descriptive, whilst all genuinely ancient plants have a root word of a single syllable. It does, however, seem to be certain that it was known by the age of Han, 206 bc; that it was valued medicinally; and that it developed into an important article of trade from China to W. Asia during the 10th century. In modern times, the Chinese root was held in higher esteem than those supplies that came from Russian and Black Sea sources.
In England, rhubarb became known, at first in a purely medicinal context, in the 16th century. The idea of eating the stem may have occurred to people, much later, because of the resemblance between rhubarb and its smaller relation, sorrel. Ray, in his Historia Plantarum (1686), compared rhubarb stalks favourably with those of sorrel. Indeed, several dock varieties have ‘rhubarbic’ sobriquets, such as monk's rhubarb for mountain dock, and curled dock is even preferred to rhubarb by some Australians. Another naturalist, Peter Collinson, wrote in 1739 about ‘Siberian rhubarb’ pie with sugar and cinnamon. However, it was some time before rhubarb recipes began to appear in English cookery books, perhaps waiting for sugar to be more widely available to sweeten the taste. One early example was in Mrs Rundell (1806). Other recipes for sweet pies and tarts followed during the first half of the 19th century.
Meanwhile, new varieties and hybrids were being developed. Early plants had mainly green stalks, and it was those with a red tinge which were selected to produce the modern red varieties. There are now numerous cultivars, varying in yield, colour, size, season, oxalic acid content, etc. Irish Giant is an interesting curiosity, with stems which may be as much as 1.5 m (5′) long, and as thick as a man's arm.
Rhubarb is often forced, either by covering the plant with a pot to encourage early growth in the spring or by the modern method of hothouse cultivation. The practice has been observed in Afghanistan as well as in western countries, where the effect of forcing was accidentally discovered at the Chelsea Physic Garden early in the 19th century. In Britain the sweetest rhubarb, called ‘champagne rhubarb’, comes very early and has slim, tender stalks.
Rhubarb is mainly used for pies (hence its being known as ‘pie-plant’ in the USA and in Germany as piestangel) and similar dishes, but also for jams. The use of ginger to enhance the taste of rhubarb is traditional, especially in jam-making. Orange and angelica are used likewise.
In Britain the combination of rhubarb and custard is as irrestible to some as it is offputting to others; and rhubarb crumble, also with custard, is deservedly popular.
Rhubarb may be cooked as a vegetable and may be used as a savoury sauce for pork, goose, or mackerel. In Norway they make a rhubarb soup and in Poland it is cooked with potatoes and aromatics. It is used in khorest (stew) in Iran and in Afghanistan it is added to spinach. The Iranian dish has medieval antecedents in meat and chicken stews described in Arabic cookery books (Perry, 2000). In Italy it is used to make an aperitif, rabarbaro, which has a low alcoholic content and is regarded as a health drink, a throwback to its medicinal uses. Generally, it has not found favour, nor much knowledge, in southern Europe. Indeed as recently as the first edition of Larousse gastronomique (1938), while describing English pies with aplomb, the editors advised cooking the leaves as if they were spinach. The effects could well have been fatal.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Laufer, Berthold (1978), Sino Iranica, repr of 1919 edn, Taipei: Ch'eng Wen.
Rundell, Mrs (‘A Lady’) (1806), A New System of Domestic Cookery, London: John Murray.
