The perfect ingredient for a killer recipe

Back in the 1930s some bright director invented a clever idea to make it appear that actors in the background of a scene were actually carrying on a conversation. They were instructed to silently mouth the word rhubarb over and over again. I wish I had known about this trick during my collegiate thespian career, confined primarily to background scenes. I always used the word rutabega.

Since National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day is not until June 9, there's still time left this season for anyone in real life to mouth rhubarb, that is, eat the fruit (technically a vegetable) that Ruth Reichl says is one of the key ingredients in some 136 recipes that saved her life.

She wrote about this after the abrupt closure of Gourmet magazine after nearly 70 years in print. Reichl had been the editor in chief of the publication for a decade but got the notice of its impending demise only a day before it happened. To help her cope with the shock and loss she spent a lot of time in the kitchen making treasured recipes, like for a rhubarb sundae.

It shouldn't be surprising that rhubarb had therapeutic properties for Ruth Reichl. Going all the way back to Roman times it was originally used for medicinal purposes. Powder made from its roots was once worth more than opium. It is still important in Chinese medicine. Today it is classified as a superfood due to its ratio of health benefits to calories. But it wasn't until the 19th century that anyone in the English speaking world thought about eating it.

It should, perhaps, be surprising that rhubarb became a popular food in the first place. After all, it's poisonous, or at least its leaves are. Eaten in large enough quantity they can be deadly. Moreover, the stalks are puckeringly tart, with a pH of 3, the same as vinegar. This might explain why rhubarb didn't become a popular food until sugar became affordable.

Recipes for rhubarb pie are so numerous that the plant has been nicknamed pie plant, but it can be used in lots of other desserts, like this rhubarb almond pudding cake.Submitted by Tom Harte

Recipes for rhubarb pie are so numerous that the plant has been nicknamed pie plant, but it can be used in lots of other desserts, like this rhubarb almond pudding cake.Submitted by Tom Harte

Once sugar was sprinkled into the equation rhubarb became highly favored, not just in pies, its most common application, giving it the nickname pie plant, but in tarts, crumbles, cobblers, crisps, cakes, cookies, breads, jams, conserves, and even alcoholic drinks. It's delicious not just in homey sweets, but in fairly sophisticated concoctions as well. Noma, Copenhagen's three-star eatery routinely designated the world's best restaurant (but slated to close at the end of next year and transform into a food laboratory) prepares a haute cuisine preparation of rhubarb stalks and milk curds. The French Laundry, the Napa Valley food temple where the check averages nearly $1000 (who wouldn't want to work just for tips there?) pairs rhubarb confit with navel oranges, candied fennel, and a mascarpone sorbet.

But rhubarb works wonders not just in desserts but in savory dishes as well. Reichl, for example, offers a recipe for salmon with rhubarb glaze. Indeed, trendy restaurants are pairing it with duck, pork, fish, chicken, venison, lamb, and where not banned, foie gras.

Though the word "rhubarb" is slang for a loud quarrel, there's no argument that even without the leaves it can make a killer dish.

With poisonous leaves and stalks having a pH quotient as puckering as vinegar it's a wonder that rhubarb became such a popular dessert ingredient, spawning millions of recipes.Submitted by Tom Harte

With poisonous leaves and stalks having a pH quotient as puckering as vinegar it's a wonder that rhubarb became such a popular dessert ingredient, spawning millions of recipes.Submitted by Tom Harte

Rhubarb Almond Pudding Cake

If you look for rhubarb pie recipes on Google, in less than a second you will have at your fingertips nearly 12 million of them. No wonder rhubarb has been nicknamed pie plant. But rhubarb makes a pretty good cake too, as demonstrated by this recipe adapted from Donna Hay, Australia's Martha Stewart. Since more than likely you have more rhubarb pie recipes that you need, try this one for a change of pace.

• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon rosewater
• 1-1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1-1/2 tablespoons grated orange rind
• 2-1/2 cups ground almonds
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup superfine sugar
• 5 stalks rhubarb, trimmed and halved lengthwise
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Whisk together eggs, vanilla, rosewater, buttermilk, and orange rind. Combine almonds, cornstarch, and sugar. Add buttermilk mixture to almond mixture and stir to combine. Pour into a 6 cup round baking dish. Spread rhubarb across the top, brush with maple syrup, and sprinkle with extra sugar. Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees or until pudding cake is just firm and rhubarb is soft.