Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb

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Rhubarb harvest by candlelight
View of a propellant Halle ( forcing shed )
Rhubarb sculpture in Wakefield

Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb (literally: 'Forced rhubarb from Yorkshire') is a protected designation of origin for rhubarb stalks that are made to sprout from specially prepared rhubarb plants in heated halls in complete darkness. It's a local specialty grown in an area in Yorkshire in northern England known as the Rhubarb Triangle . Due to the fact that they are sprouting under special conditions, the rhubarb stalks are available earlier in the year and have a different, more intense taste and a different, more delicate structure than normal rhubarb grown outdoors. In 2010 Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb was recognized by the European Union as a local specialty worthy of protection and has since been marketed as a product with a protected designation of origin.

Taste and appearance

The leaf stalks of the Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb are slimmer, more tender, and sweeter in taste than normal, outdoors-forged rhubarb stalks . They contain less of the acid and bitter substances that are otherwise so characteristic of rhubarb, so that the rest of the rhubarb's own taste emerges more strongly and is perceived as stronger and more intense in taste with only a slight acidity.

Chemical and microbiological research has shown that Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb contains oxalic acid , calcium in the form of calcium oxalate , potassium and plant estrogen .

The color of the thin peel is white at the base, where the petiole emerges from the rhizome, and otherwise ranges between pale pink and deep dark red, depending on the variety and growing conditions; in the cut, the inside of the bars appears white. The leaves of the Forced Rhubarb from Yorkshire are usually only small and have a delicate light to bright yellow color.

  • Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb on the market in Leeds

  • For comparison: rhubarb stalks cultivated in the field

cultivation

Rhubarb is one of the vegetables that can be harvested the earliest and, if it is cultivated normally, is available on the market as a fresh product from April to July. Rhubarb needs deep, medium to heavy soil in a good state of fertilizer (“in terms of fertilization you can hardly do too much with rhubarb”) and a lot of water, but does not tolerate waterlogging.

The plants for Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb are first grown outdoors. The conditions for this are particularly favorable in Yorkshire, as they offer the plants a lot of rain, water-storing soil and a long cold period in which no root growth takes place. This long period of dormant root growth enables farmers to interrupt the rest period early in order to artificially advance the start of the natural vegetation period and to be able to bring the rhubarb to sprout ahead of time. The heavy industry in the region and the available soot and ash that were spread on the fields in the past also ensured that the above-ground parts of the plant died early in autumn, so that the winter dormant period was extended even further and the early growth in the hall favored. The sulfur deposits in the soil also favor rhubarb cultivation. Another local peculiarity is the fertilization with wool dust ( shoddy ), an organic fertilizer that is a waste product of wool production .

For use as a forcing rhubarb, it is crucial that the plants are able to accumulate as much energy as possible in their root stores. Moisture-retaining soils and the rain-rich geographic location are therefore important prerequisites for the economic cultivation of Forced Rhubarb. These soils encourage the emergence of large, strong rhizomes with large eyes , from which the rhubarb stalks will later sprout. For the cultivation of this rhubarb specialty, rhubarb plants of the varieties Timperley Early , Stockbridge Harbinger , Reeds Early Superb or Fenton's Special , Prince Albert , Stockbridge Arrow and Victoria are currently mostly used. The plants are usually propagated by division and have to be cultivated for two to three years under the special climatic and soil conditions until they are suitable as forcing rhubarb. No stalks are harvested during this time so as not to weaken the plant at this stage.

For premature budding, the rhizomes are dug out by hand in the field and initially laid out in the fields until the next frost or cold period. After this cold stimulus , which is necessary for premature budding, the root stocks are usually moved to large, darkened and heated halls ( forcing sheds ) at the beginning of November . There they are lined up tightly by hand so that the leaf buds point upwards. Then they are driven out by heating up the greenhouse. This prevents light from falling on the plants, as otherwise the fibers would thicken and harden through photosynthesis and the rhubarb would take on a sour taste. The growth should take place evenly over six to nine weeks. If the rhubarb grows too quickly, it will lose its taste. In order to treat the plants gently and to expose them to as little light as possible, the harvest takes place by hand and by candlelight. Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb is available in stores between January and March, sometimes even later, and is then replaced on the markets by free-range rhubarb, which is available around April. After the harvest, the root stocks are composted. They are exhausted and can no longer be used for further culture.

  • Rhubarb plant in the open ground

  • Rhubarb leaf buds

  • Rhubarb Former in Wakefield

The Rhubarb Triangle

Rhubarb Triangle

The Rhubarb Triangle , the Rhubarb Triangle ' , is now about 9 square miles (about 23 square kilometers) large triangular area in West Yorkshire , is grown in the traditional rhubarb in the field and brought to early bud break in heated halls. It is on the edge of the Pennines between Leeds , Wakefield and Bradford .

The exact geographical area as defined in the application for protection of the designation of origin,

“[...] extends north from Ackworth Moor Top along the A628 to Featherstone and Pontefract. From there the border runs along the A656 through Castleford. Here she turns west and follows the A63 past Garforth and West Garforth. The border now runs north, past Whitkirk and Manston, and then continues via Scholes to the A6120. It now follows the A6120 in a westerly direction, curves around Farsley and then runs south-west over the A647 to the A6177. Here she passes Dudley Hill and then follows the M606 south. From junction 26, it runs south along the M62 to junction 25, then runs east on the A644 towards Dewsbury, passes Mirfield and now follows the A638 towards Wakefield. From Wakefield the border runs south along the A638 to Ackworth Moor Top. "

Protected Designation of Origin

Community symbol of the European Union for products with a protected designation of origin

Jane Oldroyd Hume, fourth generation of forcing rhubarb producer , named high priestess of forced rhubarb by the local press , has been involved since 2004 together with the eleven other growers and in cooperation with the British Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (abbreviated DEFRA , Ministry of the Environment, Food and Agriculture) for recognition of Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb as a regional specialty worthy of protection. In the summer of 2009, the United Kingdom finally applied to protect Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb as a designation of origin EU-wide, the registration took place on March 1, 2010. Jane Oldroayd Hume stated: “ We were the first fresh product grown on mainland soil to get the PDO status, as opposed to a prepared product, and it really put us on the map ”(German:“ We were the first raw product that is grown on the mainland that has received the status as a protected designation of origin, in contrast to a manufactured product, and that's what really made us famous ”).

history

Up until the early 19th century, rhubarb was grown and used primarily for medicinal purposes in England. Joseph Myatt from Deptford near London is said to have started the commercial cultivation of rhubarb as a food in England around 1810, his rather sour rhubarb pies were initially ridiculed as physic pies (laxative pies ). There was a greater demand for rhubarb as an ingredient for desserts only with the falling sugar prices in the middle of the 19th century, when it became possible to prepare inexpensive sweet rhubarb dishes.

The cultivation of bleached rhubarb also appeared in the 19th century. It is unclear whether by chance rhubarb rhubarb were covered with earth or rubble during the resting phase or whether this was done as winter protection. In any case, it was discovered that rhubarb plants, when deprived of light, produced longer, more tender sticks with better taste. In the winter, terracotta pots were therefore put over the rhubarb plants before they sprout, in order to encourage tender and pale shoots - comparable to the cultivation of asparagus or chicory .

The premature budding caused by heat was also accidentally discovered in Chelsea , London, in 1817 when the rhubarb roots were covered with organic fertilizer and warmed by it. Around 1880, this cultivation method was further perfected by farmers in the area, which later became known as the rhubarb triangle: The rhubarb plants were now not only brought to sprout pale and therefore more delicate and tasteful stalks without sunlight, but also the harvest season could can be brought forward considerably by cultivation in heated boxes. This was made possible in particular by the cheap coal available in the area, which could be used as heating material. (Today the forcing sheds are heated with propane gas or diesel oil.) The advantage of moving forward was that rhubarb, at a time when there was only limited availability for cooling for preservation, could be marketed as a fresh product for a much longer period of time. Until the 1930s, rhubarb production in this area grew so rapidly that around 90 percent of the rhubarb produced worldwide came from the approximately 200 growers in the northern English rhubarb triangle. A rhubarb express brought the sticks overnight from Wakefield to the London markets until the 1960s . After the Second World War, however, the demand for rhubarb collapsed with the advent of imported goods. The number of rhubarb growers dropped to only about 20.

Since 2000, however, there has been a renaissance of rhubarb as a popular food, which has led to a steady increase in demand. The renewed interest in regional products is reflected, for example, in the annual Festival of Food, Drink and Rhubarb in Wakefield and the national rhubarb plant collections in the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society of Wisley and Harlow Carr or in the garden of the National Trust for Scotland at Kellie Castle in Fife . Rhubarb is a healthy vegetable that is used in many recipes by prominent chefs - not only as a dessert ingredient, but also as a side dish or aromatic ingredient for meat and fish. Medical research is studying possible beneficial effects of rhubarb. This also brought back the special cultivation method for Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb and was finally recognized as a protected designation of origin in the EU in 2010.

  • Clay pots for rhubarb leafs outdoors

  • Kellie Castle Gardens in Scotland is home to one of the UK's national collections of rhubarb

  • Giant rhubarb from the Wisley rhubarb collection

literature

  • Christopher Stocks: Forgotten Fruits. The stories behind Britain's traditional fruit and vegetables. Windmill, London 2009, ISBN 978-0-09-951474-9 , pp. 192-195.

Web links

Commons : Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Application for registration Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb (according to Art. 6 Para. 2 of Regulation (EC) No. 510/2006 ). In: Official Journal of the European Union of 12 August 2009, 2009 / C 189/11 (PDF)
  2. ↑ a b Kretschmer, Nordmann, Plüghan, Tesch: The field vegetable cultivation. Berlin, 1954, pp. 257-261.
  3. ↑ a b Forced Rhubarb ( memento of March 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) accessed March 30, 2014
  4. ↑ a b c d Rhubarb steps out of the dark In: Gridline, Spring Issue 2012, pp. 8–9
  5. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6474741.stm, accessed March 30, 2014
  6. ↑ Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb gets EU name status , in: bbc.co.uk (February 25, 2010), accessed March 29, 2014.
  7. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 251/2010 of the Commission of March 24, 2010 on the entry of a name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb (PDO)) (PDF), accessed on March 30, 2014
  8. ↑ http://www.yorkshirerhubarb.co.uk/ruhbarb_triangle.htm, accessed March 30, 2014
  9. ↑ a b c d Christopher Stocks: Forgotten Fruits. The stories behind Britain's traditional fruit and vegetables. Pp. 192-195.
  10. ^ Rhubarb ( memento of September 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) accessed March 30, 2014
  11. ↑ http://britishfood.about.com/od/introtobritishfood/ss/Brief-History-Of-Rhubarb-In-Britain_2.htm accessed March 30, 2014