Simon and his Rhubarb Spleen
24 May 2010
Simon is totally in love with everything that contains rhubarb – rhubarb cake, rhubarb jam, rhubarb yogurt,… It is this particular sourly taste he likes so much, and although I am not quite as crazy about rhubarb as him, I can well understand it. But although I like it quite a lot myself, for some reason I have never actually cooked anything with rhubarb before. Probably because we never had it at home (again, not for any particular reason – it just didn’t happen to be part of my parents’ regular dishes).
Now (dispite the on-going cold weather) it’s rhubarb season, and when I came across some at Viktualienmarkt I spontaneously bought a bunch to treat Simon to some nice dessert. Since I had never used raw rhubarb before, I asked the market lady about it, and was amazed at how easy it is to handle – the peel comes off very easily – and all the more I wondered why I never tried it before.
Anyways, this dessert is very simple: rhubarbs and strawberries just stewed in some red wine, finally garnised with a bit of vanilla ice cream. I served it right away and still hot. It was not bad and Simon was delighted, but actually I was a bit disappointed that there was only just a hint of a taste of rhubarb (I suspected it might have been somewhat premature). The real surprise, however, came the following day: I came home hungry from work and pinched a spoon full of the leftovers – what an intense taste of… rhubarb! The fruit sauce had thickened and become much more concentrated, much nicer than the day before.
Unfortunately for him, Simon had left for the week, and I couldn’t possibly resist the temptation. Sorry Simon, you really missed the best… I might make this again, though.
Rhubarb & Strawberry Dessert
| serves about 4 (2 if rhubarb fanatics) |
| 250g fresh rhubarb |
| 250g ripe strawberries |
| juice of 1/2 lemon |
| brown sugar to taste |
| 1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar (1 pack) |
| 80ml red wine |
to combine with |
| vanilla ice cream |
Peel the rhubarb and chop into about 2-3 cm long bits. Wash the strawberries and chop, too.
In a saucepan, heat a table spoon of brown sugar until it melts. Add the rhubarb and the strawberries and stir engergetically. Pour over the red wine, add the lemon juice as well as the vanilla sugar and season to taste with some more brown sugar, if you wish.
Set at low heat and stew for at least 20 minutes. Let sit for a few hours so the sauce cools down and thickens, then serve with a bowl of vanilla ice cream.