It is not known how asparagus reached the New World, although given its popularity in Great Britain and Europe, it was a natural stowaway on the sailing vessels crossing the Atlantic. It appears in many cookbooks of the eighteenth century in “economical” recipes, usually in combination with other ingredients. A representative example is in The Complete Housewife or Accomplish’d Gentlewoman’s Companion, written by Elizabeth Smith in 1727.
Asparagus Soop
Take twelve pound of lean beef, cut in slices, then put in a quarter of a pound of butter in a stew pan over the fire, and put your beef in.
Let it boil up quick till it begins to brown, then put in a pint of brown ale, and a gallon of water, and cover it close. Let it stew gently for an hour and a half. Put in what spice you like in the stewing and strain off the liquor, and scum off all the fat.
Then put in some vermicelli, some sallery, washed and cut small, half a hundred of Asparagus cut small, and palates boiled tender and cut. Put all these in and let them boil gently till tender. Just as ‘tis going up, fry a handful of spinage in butter and throw in a French roll.
Asparagus appears to have continued a favourite with the well-to-do in the nineteenth century, for printed cookbooks contained recipes for it in soups, garnishes, and purées, on toast, and in combination with other ingredients. In fact, The Home Cook Book, compiled by Ladies of Toronto and Chief Cities and Towns in Canada and first published in 1877 in Toronto to benefit the Hospital for Sick Children, contains a recipe that is hauntingly familiar to its British counterpart 150 years before, although the portions are smaller:
Asparagus Soup
Three or four pounds of veal cut fine, a little salt pork, two or three bunches of asparagus and three quarts of water. Boil one-half of the asparagus with the meat, leaving the rest in water until about twenty minutes before serving; then add the rest of the asparagus and boil just before serving; add one pint of milk; thicken with a little flour and season. The soup should boil about three hours before adding the last half of the asparagus.
We are fortunate that, in many parts of Canada, we can enjoy some spring delights all year long. There is nothing that can really match their perfection when fresh. Look for them in the wild or in your market, general store, or roadside stand and enjoy these centuries-old treats that herald the arrival of spring.
Preserve the Pie Plant
[Medicinal rhubarb was] produced in the Province of Tangut in large quantities … merchants who come to buy it, convey it to all the world.
Marco Polo
Rhubarb was first described as a medicine in a Chinese herbal remedy dating from 2700 b.c., and for centuries it continued to be grown for its curative qualities. It was nurtured by the monks in the monasteries of Asia and Europe during the Middle Ages (also as a medicine), but it was not until 1777 that it was first recorded in Britain, in an herbal garden at Banbury, Oxfordshire.
In the nineteenth century some interest was taken in using rhubarb for culinary purposes, and it slowly began to appear in London vegetable and fruit markets. In 1855 the term “rhubarb pie” appeared in print for the first time, heralding a dessert that became so popular that rhubarb became known as “pie plant” in North America. Its popularity continued to grow in the nineteenth century, largely because it was so easy to cultivate.
Sometimes only a matter of days would elapse from the moment the huge leaves began to push through the melting snow in early spring until it appeared on the table. For our winter-weary ancestors without our resources of transport, freezers, and methods of preservation, pie plant was welcome for its purgative and astringent properties, as well as its tart flavour.
The American Agriculturist, published in New York in 1862, says it all:
A Spring Tart
Does anybody doubt, or not know, the desirableness of the rhubarb vegetable! Then we pity him. It is one of the finest things in the world, to make a pie or spring tart.
Apples often give out in April and May, and those which remain are wilted and tasteless. Man’s stomach longs for something fresh, crisp and juicy: the pie plant affords that very thing. It forms a connecting link in the year-long chain of articles for pie making.
Think, too, of the doctor’s testimony that it is “one of the most wholesome, cooling and delicious substances that can be used for the table. For dysentery in children, it is an infallible remedy, stewed, seasoned with sugar and eaten in any quantity with bread.” We have tasted samples of fair wine made from this plant. It is also used for jellies and jams.
As The American Agriculturist points out, rhubarb wine was a popular and inexpensive beverage in the nineteenth century, and the cookery books of the period contained many basic recipes for making it. Although not so common today, the elders in many a family still remember it fondly:
Rhubarb Wine
Take 4 pounds of rhubarb to 1 gallon of water, squeeze it, put it into a tub, and pour the water on it; let it steep 3 days, then strain off the liquid; put 3 1/2 pounds of sugar to every gallon, and put it into a barrel, stir it every day for a fortnight, then add a few raisins and a small quantity of isinglass [gelatin], then bung it up for three months. Finally bottle it and in 5 to 6 weeks it will be ready for use.
Although rhubarb is a vegetable, it usually appears on our tables, just as it did on those of our ancestors, in the guise of a fruit. Like many fruits, it is most often dressed up as a dessert. From coast to coast, similar recipes have evolved in Canadian kitchens over the years to the point that any regional or provincial peculiarities have disappeared. Here are just a few:
Rhubarb Fool
1 pound fresh rhubarb, trimmed
4 ounces sugar
finely grated rind and juice of 1 orange
1/2 pint whipping cream
Cut the rhubarb into 1-inch lengths and place in a saucepan with the sugar, orange rind, and juice and bring to a boil with a little water (not more than 1/4 pint) and gently simmer until tender. Purée in a blender or food processor and place in the refrigerator until cold. Whip the cream and fold into the purée. Place in individual serving glasses and put back into the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Serve with fingers of sponge cake. Serves four.
Rhubarb-Strawberry Dessert
2 cups fresh rhubarb (cut fine)
2 cups fresh strawberries (cut fine)
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
Sprinkle a few drops of lemon juice on the mixture and then prepare the following topping:
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup flour
Mix topping well and spread (it will be crumbly) on fruit. Bake in moderate oven, 350ºF, for about 40 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream if desired.
Rhubarb Pie Make enough pastry for a two-crust pie and line pie plate. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar with 2 tablespoons flour and spread on pastry in bottom of pie plate. Fill with rhubarb that has been washed, wiped dry, and cut into pieces. In