Rhubarb Outtakes

The Rhubarb column is history, but I have a couple of extra stalks to share:

After the article ran, my neighbork Adele conferred with her friend about rhubarb. They confirmed that rhubarb is in fact a Yankee food and that they've never seen it in a Southern cook book. This quotation of Adele's was a last minute cut: "You all make strawberry rhubarb pie, but we just grew up on strawberry pie and, if we were lucky, wild strawberry pie."

Also, this was the Spoonstress' take on the Rhubarb Lime Rickey: “If I close my eyes, it tastes like I’m drinking limeade." Opening her eyes, she said, "It tastes like pomegranate." Hmm...

If there is a rhubarb association (this was the closest I found), it should market its product better. I'm thinking if they re-branded it as "Roo-Barb," used a kangaroo logo and got some outback Aussie to pitch it, rhubarb could be the next…Kiwi fruit. Who doesn't like kangaroos?

Finally, I’d like to point out that my local store was sold out of all rhubarb the weekend before the column ran. While I’d like to think that my blog posts on the vegetable sparked a buying frenzy in Chapel Hill, it’s unlikely. Instead, take it as a sign that rhubarb is a commodity on the rise—buy it while you can!

No word yet on if the shelves will be bare after the column runs (I'm not holding my breath.).