This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to London
In a nine-square-mile-patch of West Yorkshire, long pink stalks grow under the cover of darkness. Some flourish beneath terracotta pots; others grow in cabins known as forcing sheds. The flashes of pink at greengrocers are the first signs of spring in the fruit section.
Forced rhubarb is a clandestine version of normal rhubarb. After growing outside for two years, rhubarb roots are taken into warm, dark sheds, where the fruit is lured out of hibernation early. (Outdoor rhubarb isn’t available until, at the earliest, late March or April.) Growers can expect forced fruit from Christmas until early April, but peak season is around February. That nine square-mile-patch of West Yorkshire — otherwise known as the “rhubarb triangle” — is a rhubarb hotspot. Most of the UK’s rhubarb is grown there, although it is a stalwart in allotments across the country. The triangle’s cold, wet winters provide ideal conditions for the Siberia-native roots to grow.
“Because there’s no sunlight, no chlorophyll, no photosynthesis, the sugars stay in the stick rather than going to the big green leaves,” explains Robert Tomlinson, whose family have been growing forced rhubarb in the triangle for almost 150 years. Outdoor rhubarb is grown in many countries, but forcing the crop is thought to have originated in the UK; Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb was awarded PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status in 2010. Darkness makes rhubarb a “far more tender and sweeter product” than its outdoor alternative; Tomlinson and his wife go as far as picking their crop by candlelight.
For the few weeks that forced rhubarb is in season, London’s restaurants go crazy for it. Much like wild garlic, it is typically homegrown or found in good greengrocers; it’s a rarer sight in supermarkets than apples and pears. If you do find it, prepare to pay a price: Waitrose is currently selling three sticks for £3.85. Such exclusivity — and, of course, the exquisite taste — means that the appetite from diners is insatiable. Options range from humble crumble at British pub chain Young’s to ornate pavlovas at The National Gallery’s Ochre.
Because I am a lazy chef, I usually just stew my rhubarb (500g chopped) for 10 minutes with sugar (to taste; remember, forced rhubarb is naturally sweeter), a splash of water and grated orange peel. Turn it into a crumble or spoon over yoghurt like Hackney restaurant The Water House Project. You can also grow your own fruit with a special terracotta forcer (usually found at good garden centres). Even “an upside-down dustbin will do”, says Tomlinson, who advises only harvesting a few sticks at a time to allow the plant to recover.
It’s not a coincidence that crumbles, creams and custards are popular forced rhubarb pairings. The bright acidity of the fruit lends itself perfectly to desserts. Tempting sweet options across the capital this season include a deep-fried tart at Shoreditch’s SMOKESTAK, poached rhubarb and port sorbet at Portuguese restaurant Joia and a rhubarb and cardamom pastry at Pophams bakeries in Hackney and Islington.
As a member of the buckwheat family, rhubarb is as savoury as it is sweet. “It pairs so well with, quite literally, hundreds of flavours,” says Pophams’ executive chef Phil King. The most popular combination is rhubarb and fish: find it on oysters at Spring, Corrigan’s and Evelyn’s Table. Or atop a whole mackerel at Soho’s 10 Greek Street. The acidity balances the richness of most proteins perfectly.
Once a staple part of Britain’s winter diet, forced rhubarb lost its sheen after the UK started importing fruit and vegetables. Now — or at least until the end of March — you’ll be hard pressed to get away from it. Even bars have caught on: at Three Sheets in Dalston, brothers Noel and Max Venning have devised a cocktail made up of Manotsuru sake (7.5ml), rhubarb sake (25ml), vodka (30ml) and peony tea tincture (2.5ml) — “a perfect drink as the days get a little longer”. What beckons a sundowner more than that?
Below are the restaurants showing forced rhubarb at its fleeting — and pinkest — best.
Luca
88 St John Street, London EC1M 4EH
It makes sense that Robert Chambers, executive chef at Michelin-starred Luca, likes forced rhubarb; his food is the perfect balance of sweetness, richness and acidity. There’s always a twist at Luca — be it a slither of green olive in a rabbit tagliatelle, bright green peppercorns in his Aynhoe Park deer secondi or a burst of datterini tomato in an otherwise wintry squid and chickpea dish. Rhubarb offers Chambers another flavour to surprise with.
Luca opened in Clerkenwell in 2016 from the trio behind The Clove Club. It is at once a local Italian and an upscale eatery, the quiet neighbour of long-established St John and nearby Quality Chop House. With its café curtains and diner-style booths, at first the restaurant appears to be a simple brasserie. Walk in to discover a cavernous dining room lined with floor-to-ceiling windows (wait staff call it “the Tardis”). Signature dishes include Chambers’ pork sausage ragù, and parmesan fries so good you’ll wonder why you’ve ever bothered with halloumi fries. On a Tuesday night in February, every seat is taken — even on the terrace.
For three years running, Chambers has offered a forced rhubarb panna cotta — “it’s definitely been a favourite since it first appeared on the menu,” he says. The yoghurt and vanilla dessert is topped with poached rhubarb and orange and rhubarb sorbet, served with custard-filled beignets. “I find the combination of the sweet vanilla and custard works brilliantly with the more acidic flavours of the rhubarb and orange,” says Chambers, who has previously done rhubarb with Creedy Carver duck, glazed chicory and ginger.
At home, Chambers likes to make a crumble with a simple twist. “When stewing the rhubarb, I separate it into two batches,” says the British-Italian chef (he was raised by Italian grandparents). One batch is stewed for three minutes, before adding the second batch and stewing together for a further three. “This means you have two different textures in your crumble and the rhubarb holds its shape better when cooking.” Website; Directions
Counter 71
71 Nile Street, London N1 7RD
Recently, the Mayor of London announced plans to cut peak Friday travel fares in a bid to get people out more (Friday Tube usage is currently about 73 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels). Take advantage of a Friday in town with Counter 71’s new lunch service.
Since it opened last June, booking a space at the Shoreditch restaurant’s 16-seat counter has been near impossible: on top of evening slots, it’s now open for Friday and Saturday lunches. Keeping his covers low allows chef Joe Laker to buy exact quantities of British ingredients, creating low-waste menus that move with the seasons. There are favourite dishes: the tiny cheese tartlet and fennel-seed custard desserts are regular (and delicious) bookends of Laker’s multi-course tasting menu (£120). But mostly you can expect the offering to be different every time.
Laker grew up in Yorkshire, and considers the abundance of rhubarb in his home county to be a “personal win”. “It’s the first bit of colour, the sour and vibrant flavours before the berries and greens kick in,” he says of rhubarb season. “That pink stick is the sign that the days of leek, celeriac and potatoes are over.”
On Laker’s current menu of frothy crab and oyster velouté, butter-soft cod loin and homely apple pie are two savoury rhubarb courses. First, a bowl of sliced raw hamachi with wasabi and forced rhubarb juice, which adds a citrus-like effect. Another is a duck main course served with spiced vermouth and forced rhubarb gel. “Rhubarb is a great way to get acidity into dishes during the colder months,” explains Laker. The chef dresses his duck with shreds of pickled rhubarb for an extra acid hit.
As for why the once-humble vegetable is now a hot commodity on London’s restaurant circuit, Laker isn’t sure. “The trendy middle class get hold of ingredients and they become cult items,” he guesses. “It happened with wild garlic, it happened with rhubarb. Who knows what [will be] next.” Website; Directions
Bull & Last
168 Highgate Road, London NW5 1QS
At Hampstead Heath-side pub the Bull & Last, the aim is to create synergy between the bar and kitchen. In winter, that means desserts and cocktails made with quince, sloe berries and damsons. In February, the focus turns to forced rhubarb.
“Rhubarb sets the tone for the year ahead, with spring soon on its way,” says the pub’s co-owner Joe Swiers, who is currently serving two cocktails using the fruit: a bellini and an electric pink sour. One is a refreshing opener; the other is more decadent: a sour made with almond bitters and rhubarb gin. “The colour from the sour is vibrant and we use what’s left to make a dehydrated rhubarb powder,” adds Swiers.
Accompanying the two cocktails is a buttermilk panna cotta with poached Yorkshire rhubarb and a crispy almond tuile. It’s a different desert to Luca’s panna cotta, with fewer of the sugary accoutrements — no sorbet or beignets here. It’s indulgent, but not so rich that it’ll be unmanageable after prime-rib roast or bestselling fish and chips (served with or without an enormous gherkin). “When lightly poached in the right way, [rhubarb] gives you a stunning flavourful bite,” says co-owner and chef Ollie Pudney.
The pub has seven guest rooms and a breakfast menu — think eggs royale, buttermilk pancakes and takeaway bacon baps — for those looking to prolong the experience. Website; Directions
Brooklands by Claude Bosi
The Peninsula london, 1 Grosvenor Place, London SW1X 7HJ
Michael Kadoorie, chair of the holding company that owns The Peninsula London, is obsessed with aviation. Hence why the lift up to the hotel’s eighth floor, where you’ll find Claude Bosi’s Brooklands, named after the birthplace of British aviation and motor sport, makes the whooshing sound of a hot-air balloon, and why the staff are dressed in neat little cabin-crew uniforms. An information banner projected on to the restaurant’s wall, referred to as the “Concorde dashboard”, reflects the height and travel speed of the supersonic airliner: 50,000 feet in the air, travelling at 1,280mph.
It seems an unlikely environment for forced rhubarb, but chef de cuisine Francesco Dibenedetto is unfazed by the challenge; Brooklands just won two Michelin stars (the fastest win in UK and Irish history). “I adore rhubarb for its tartness,” he says. “Our aim is to create perfectly balanced dishes that reflect produce at the peak of its season.”
Bosi serves forced rhubarb three ways: as ravioli — razor thin slices of fruit filled with white ganache, surrounded by poached rhubarb and plum oil; as sorbet; and as sweet pink marmalade atop a coconut upside-down cake. It’s exactly the kind of playfulness that the French chef, who splits his time between Brooklands and Chelsea restaurant Bibendum, has become known for. (Also on the menu that evening were “devil-style” Dorset snails and celeriac “Nosotto” with crab and coconut). At the heart of the dessert is a hint of Nepalese pepper, used to heighten his rhubarb’s “sharp, distinctive tang”.
It’s hard not to leave Brooklands with one of the aeroplane napkin holders in your pocket. As is it tempting to sneak into the restaurant’s fully functional cigar lounge — just for a peek. On this occasion, the rhubarb was more than enough. Website; Directions
The Camberwell Arms
65 Camberwell Church Street, London SE5 8TR
A south London staple for 10 years, The Camberwell Arms sits quietly on one of its neighbourhood’s main thoroughfares. Chef director Mike Davies’ philosophy is to use good ingredients that work hard without showing off. The atmosphere is as fitting for fine dining as it is for casual drinking.
Davies loves forced rhubarb for its sweetness and vibrancy. “It’s a meme vegetable — the kind of thing you’d see on some far-flung planet,” he says of the eerie pink stalks. This season the chef is serving the fruit with a sticky slab of ginger cake — crisp on the outside; spongy in the middle — and warm custard, a recipe lifted from his upcoming cookbook. Chiming with the concurrent citrus season, Davies macerates his rhubarb with orange peel and juice, plus sugar, white wine, vanilla and star anise. The recommended accompaniment is a house vin d’orange (like a negroni, but less aggressive).
A recent salt-instead-of-sugar mishap means that the pub’s cheese board (when I visited it was Gruyère, Langres and Persille du Beaujolais) is being served with a forced rhubarb chutney. “You can also make a quick pickle with vinegar, sugar and a bit of salt — a perfect accompaniment for oily fish,” recommends Davies. “[Rhubarb] is effervescent in its balance of sweetness and acidity.” Website; Directions
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