Champagne Rhubarb

Forced rhubarb. Beck / flickr.com / 2011 / CC BY 2.0 / https://girlinterruptedeating.wordpress.com

Champagne rhubarb is rhubarb grown by a special technique.

The rhubarb is “forced” to grow very early in the season, in “forcing sheds.” Though it is still winter outside at the time, the sheds provide warmth to cause the rhubarb to grow earlier than it would outside. Restricted light in the sheds causes the stalks to be less tart, less fibrous, lighter in colour (a very pale pink), and more delicate overall — hence the name “champagne.”

In Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, producing champagne rhubarb has become an industry. The rhubarb is started outside in the cold, then moved into long, low, “forcing-sheds” sheds. The warmer sheds fool the Rhubarb into thinking that spring has arrived, so that the stalks will begin to grow in earnest. The rhubarb is grown in near darkness, traditionally by candlelight, and is even harvested by candlelight to avoid any encouragement of photosynthesis.

As of 2010, there were 12 commercial growers of the product in Yorkshire, mostly located in a triangle between Morley, Wakefield and Rothwell. ^[1]Easton, Mark. Map of the Week: The Rhubarb Triangle. BBC News. 25 February 2010.

In England, champagne rhubarb first comes on the market at the end of December and is available until around the end of March.

On 25 February 2010, champagne rhubarb grown in Yorkshire was awarded European PDO status, under the product name of “Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb.”

Actual varieties of rhubarb used in Yorkshire includes, as of 2010: ^[2]Application to Register: Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb. PDO. No 510/2006. Retrieved 2010 from: http://www.defra.gov.uk/

• Timerley Early
• Stockbridge Harbinger
• Reeds Early Superb (aka Fenton’s Special)
• Prince Albert
• Stockbridge Arrow
• Queen Victoria

The rootstalk used is specially prepared two years in advance so that enough energy is stored up in it for the forcing.

Forced rhubarb is also grown in Holland, with somewhat different techniques from those used in Yorkshire.

There is also an actual variety of rhubarb called Champagne “Rhubarb” that gardeners can buy. It is ready to harvest early, has green stalks when it is ready, and tastes surprisingly like gooseberries.

Cooking Tips

When buying champagne rhubarb / forced rhubarb, choose thin, pale pink stalks with no bruising or green shading on them at all. They may have small, yellow leaves on them trying to sprout.

Champagne rhubarb needs only very light cooking, but because it is still quite tart, always needs a healthy dose of sweetening for most uses. As with all rhubarb, discard the leaves.

If you have your rhubarb in your garden, you can try it. Just as the rhubarb starts to poke its head above the ground, you cover it with something tall — an upside down bucket, a terra-cotta chimney pot, old bin, etc, and allow just a bit of light to get in. Shading the plant stalks from the light stops stalks from becoming tart, and also for some reason causes them to be ready earlier.

History Notes

The first known discovery of forced rhubarb appears to have been in Chelsea, London, in 1815, in the Chelsea Physic Gardens by a man named William Anderson ^[3]”It wasn’t until a chance discovery in 1815 by William Anderson while working at the Chelsea Physic Garden that the blanched stems became important.” — Chelsea Physic Garden. Points of Interest March 2008. London: Chelsea Physic Garden. 2008. Page 1. . Anderson (1766 – 1846) was a curator at the gardens from 1815 to 46. ^[4]History of Chelsea Physic Garden Staff. London: Chelsea Physic Garden. Retrieved March 2010 from http://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/aboutus/former.html [Ed: note that the date of 1817 for this discovery is often incorrectly cited by food writers.] A trench being dug accidentally heaped up some soil on top of rhubarb beds, causing the rhubarb that forced its way up through the heap of dirt to grow blanched, with better flavour. Anderson reported his findings to the Royal Horticultural Society in 1816. Within a year or two gardeners began experimenting with forcing rhubarb under extra tall, inverted flower pots with manure heaped around the outside. ^[5]Rhubarb Pot Horticulture Ware, Page 6. In: A Place to Take Root: A History of Flower Pots and Garden Containers in North America. Exhibition 15 October to 15 December 2005. Botanic Garden of Smith College. Retrieved March 2010 from http://www.smith.edu/garden/exhibits/flowerpots/potpage6.html

In the 1870s, the technique was started in Yorkshire by Joseph Whitwell of Kirkstall near Leeds. He was also the first grower to build the special forcing sheds in which to do this ^[6]Royal Agricultural Society of England. Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Volume 16; Volume 41. 1880. Page 479..

The first crop of forced rhubarb from Yorkshire hit northern English cities in 1877, and Covent Garden Market in 1878. ^[7]Heritage Rhubarb Plants, historical varieties cultivated for sale from Brandy Carr Nurseries. Brandy Carr Nurseries. Wakefield, Yorkshire. Retrieved March 2010 from http://www.brandycarrnurseries.co.uk/rhubarb/heritage-rhubarb-varieties.htm

By the late 1800s, there were over 200 producers in the Yorkshire area. ^[8]Application to Register: Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb. PDO. No 510/2006. Retrieved 2010 from: http://www.defra.gov.uk/ After the Second World War, with the advent of year-round fresh fruit, demand for early-spring rhubarb decreased. This, combined with a perception of rhubarb as “old-fashioned”, caused the number of producers in Yorkshire to slowly decline until only 12 remained in 2010. ^[9]Easton, Mark. Map of the Week: The Rhubarb Triangle. BBC News. 25 February 2010.

Sources

BBC News. Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb gets EU name status. 25 February 2010.

Calvert, Angela. At the forefront of the Yorkshire rhubarb revival. Preston, Lancashire, England: Farmers Guardian Newspaper. 25 January 2008.

Defra News Release. Yorkshire rhubarb joins Europe’s protected food elite. 25 February 2010. Ref: 38 / 10.

Duffy, Nikki. Add to Taste: Forced Rhubarb. Manchester: The Guardian. 12 February 2005.

Grigson, Sophie. My resistance to rhubarb crumbles. London: The Independent. 19 February 1994.

Hargreaves, Clare. Protecting our own. BBC Countryfile Magazine. Retrieved March 2010 from http://www.bbccountryfilemagazine.com/safeguarding-british-food

Jack, Ian. In a few sheds near Wakefield, you can hear the rhubarb grow. Manchester: The Guardian. 19 January 2008.

Walker, Charlie. Wakefield: its times and its peoples. Wakefield, Yorkshire: Walker. 2000. Page 143-144.