By Guest Blogger Jessie Lin

A few months ago, I had no idea what rhubarb is. I’d never seen it or tasted it. I first came across it during my trip in France.  At the market in Macon, I came across a jar of jam that was labeled “Rhubarb”, and I asked (in French) the vendor what rhubarb was. He tried to explain it, but at the very end, I still hadn’t a clue what it was. When I came back to the States, I started seeing it in every farmer‘s market I went to. At first I didn’t know what to expect out of this long-stemmed celery like item, so the thought of cooking with it never even crossed my mind. Maybe it’s the season for rhubarb; I started seeing recipes popping up left and right. I had my first taste when my friend made a Strawberry and Rhubarb pie.  My second taste came when I tried a compote at the last restaurant I worked at. It’s kind of hard to describe the taste. I did some research on rhubarb, and apparently it is classified as a type of fruit in the United States, although it looks nothing like it. The leaves are toxic and the stems are too sour to eat on its own. Therefore, the most common way of preparing rhubarb is for desserts, a sugary compote, or jam.
I finally was brave enough to buy rhubarb during a visit to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The market was selling it for a decent price, so I decided to try it out. I made a rhubarb compote that turned out to be delicious. I don’t like things too sweet, so I went heavy on the lemon juice and used less sugar, but you can experiment with the amount that you want!

Here’s my recipe:

• 2 stems of rhubarb chopped into 1/2 inches
• 1/2 cup of red wine
• juice of 1 whole lemon
• 1/4 cup of sugar

Put everything in a pot and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the rhubarb starts to peel, and you’ll definitely know when that is, cause it caught me by surprise. After that’s all thickened up, let it sit until it cools.
I served it on top of ice cream, which turned out to be a great combination. The sourness from the compote complemented the sweetness of the vanilla ice cream. It’s also good on top of yogurt, bread, or as a dessert filling.

In my second compote, I added 2 shots of bourbon instead of the wine, which adds a different kick to it.

Experiment with this wonderful “fruit” while it’s in season!