Rhubarb Sauce

 

Rhubarb sauce, also known as stewed rhubarb is prepared by cooking the ripened rhubarb with sugar and unsalted butter. This sweet and tangy sauce is served over rhubarb pies, muffins, and ice creams.

 

Culinary Uses
This sauce can be chilled and served as an appetizer with strawberries and heavy cream or sour cream. Generally, ripe and fresh rhubarbs are preferred for making the sauce. The sauce can remain fresh for several months when stored properly. This sauce is popular in Northern United States where the rhubarbs grow in abundance during the winters.

 

Rhubarb sauce is also used as filling for pies. This filling sauce is prepared by boiling the rhubarb stalks in water for about 20 minutes.

 

Tips for Preparing the Sauce

  • The freshness and correct ripeness of the rhubarb should judged by squeezing its stem. The fresh and ripe rhubarb will be crispy to touch and it will generate a quirking sound on squeezing. The limp or softened rhubarb with blackened stalks should be avoided asit might be affected by frost bite.

 

  • The leaves of rhubarb should be discarded because they are poisonous. They contain oxalic acid which is also found in spinach. The over concentration of this acid makes the rhubarb leaves toxic for animal and human consumption. It is said that during WWI several people died by eating rhubarb leaves in place of greens.

 

  • The choice of ingredients in a sauce purely depends on taste preferences. The original tanginess of the sauce can be retained or it can be sweetened by adding little sugar. A sweetened rhubarb sauce is mostly preferred over the tangy variation.

     
  • If prepared in large quantities, some portion of the sauce can be canned for long time usage. The acid present in the rhubarb stalk inhibits bacterial growth and keeps the sauce fresh for the long time. The sauce can be easily canned at home by following the water bath method. The rhubarb sauce is added to special canning jars and closed tightly with lids. The jars are immersed in boiling water for about half an hour before storing. The time of immersion depends on the ingredients used in the preparation of sauce.