Rhubarb is indigenous to Asia and has grown wild along the banks of the Volga for centuries. It came to England in the 16th century, but was not used for cooking on a large scale until sugar became widely available in the 17th century. The practice of ‘forcing’ rhubarb, or growing it in dark conditions, didn’t start until the early 19th century when a Chelsea gardener made a chance discovery by leaving a chimney pot over one of his plants. He found that depriving rhubarb of light made the stems shoot up towards the light, which made for a more succulent-tasting product. This forced rhubarb is infinitely more delicate than the outdoor garden variety. The roots, or crowns, of outdoor rhubarb are left in the fields for two to three years and are then lifted, by hand, from November through to Christmas and replanted into low, dark forcing sheds where they are kept warm and moist as the shoots form. The forcefulness of the shoots is such that you can hear the buds bursting, practically crying out as they strain upwards. In a matter of a few weeks the rhubarb stalks are ready to be harvested. As with every other stage of this weird and wonderful plant, nothing is, or can be, mechanised. Nimble fingers pick the luscious pink stalks in true Victorian fashion - by candlelight - to protect the younger stems that are still growing. The telltale sign of forced rhubarb is its incredible colour: a particularly eye-pleasing vibrant pink with curled mustard-yellow leaves. The plants grow in the sheds right up to the end of March, when the outdoor variety becomes available. The right kind of soil, readily available coal from local pits needed to heat the forcing sheds, and good transport links all played a part in concentrating the forced rhubarb industry into a small area of West Yorkshire known as the ‘Wakefield Triangle’ (with Leeds and Bradford forming the other two 'corners'). In their heyday, the West Riding growers, of whom there were nearly 200, would take tons of rhubarb to be carried on the ‘rhubarb express’ train to cities in the south. Today there are barely 12 growers left. The industry was dealt a severe blow by imported exotic fruit and rhubarb has become too expensive for many to grow.

"Rhubarb Vodka"

Strictly not great nutritional value, but great fun all the same.

1 litre/1¾ pints vodka
2 rhubarb sticks
½ lemon, zest only
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
3 tbsp sugar


Crush rhubarb with a mortar and pestle and place in a kilner jar with sugar and leave to macerate for two days. Add the cloves, cinnamon and zest and cover with vodka. Leave the jar in a cool dark place for 3 weeks, but shake daily. Filter through muslin, re-bottle and leave for 3 months before drinking.