coraa | (no subject)

So the boy and I were watching Chopped (a cooking contest show where the cooks have to make dishes incorporating a variety of items from a basket) a few weeks ago, and one of the items in the basket was rhubarb. One of the chefs said, "Of course, with rhubarb, you have to peel it, and that takes time."

The boy and I looked at each other.

"I never peel rhubarb," I said, "and neither did my mom."

But my curiosity, it was piqued!

Poll #3766

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12

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Do you peel rhubarb before you cook it?

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Of course not, why would you?
6 (50.0%)

No
0 (0.0%)

Sometimes, depending
3 (25.0%)

Yes
0 (0.0%)

Of course I do, why wouldn't you?
0 (0.0%)

I don't cook with rhubarb
3 (25.0%)

I don't cook at all
0 (0.0%)

I don't eat, I photosynthesize
0 (0.0%)

I would like to complain about this poll
0 (0.0%)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The concept of peeling rhubarb never even occurred to me before now. Admittedly, rhubarb is not one of my Ancestral Vegetables, so it's entirely possible that I R Doin It Wrong. :-)

Same here! It wasn't like carrots, where I know people peel them but I often give them a scrub and call it good enough—it had actually never occurred to me before the show that anyone peeled rhubarb. And I grew up eating rhubarb!

I don't cook with rhubarb because I got the impression that it required all sorts of complicated treatments to make it fit for human consumption and it kinda scared me. Except then I was helping a friend cook dinner one night and we cooked rhubarb and just washed and chopped it and cooked until it had dissolved itself or something, and it was great. So now I think I need recipes.

I peel it if I am going to dip it in sugar and eat it raw. Also if I want it to look green when cooked. It's no big deal anyway as it strips back so easily. Main uses: stewed, with custard, or rhubarb crumble, also with custard. The only tricky bit is the custard as being a child of the 50s I like it made with the powdered stuff but hate the skin that forms on it.