Rhubarb loves company, especially sherry
AT THE CHEF'S TABLE
Springtime is a beautiful season in my homeland of Kent County, England, known as the Garden Of England.
The wonders of the country are in full bloom and the crops are rich with fruits, vegetables, grains and hops.
-- Mark Payne, executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton
(Courtesy)
My family lived near Canterbury. Our property had a large back garden that boasted Victoria plum trees, cooking apple trees and cherry trees.
My father, Lawrence, grew zucchini, potatoes, Brussels sprouts, gooseberries and one of my favorites, rhubarb (actually a member of the vegetable family but generally thought of as a fruit).
Sunday afternoons were always reserved for family. Father commanded the garden and the kitchen was my mother Lorna's turf.
The food for our mid-afternoon family lunch was simple and always fresh from the garden. Mum would prepare roast beef with traditional accompaniments such as roast potatoes, parsnips, Yorkshire puddings, horseradish sauce and gravy.
Dessert was the highlight, usually apple crumble with custard, gooseberry pie or rhubarb trifle, served family-style.
You never could be too stingy with the sherry in the trifle, my parents insisted. Nothing worse than not enough booze-soaked spongecake, they said. Sherry soaked the sponge perfectly and provided a balance to the perfumey flavor of the rhubarb.
My mother would sometimes add fresh chopped ginger to the rhubarb whilst cooking. She liked to add toasted flaked almonds on top of the whipped cream. She would never use the chocolate candy sprinkles -- we called them hundreds and thousands -- that were the common trifle topping up and down England at the time.
The kids would wash the dishes after lunch, then settle in to watch the live game of football (soccer to Americans) on the telly for the remainder of the afternoon.
My love for rhubarb has followed me throughout my career. It is an elegant fruit with great flavor. It is wonderful in jams and compotes as a complement to pates and terrines, which we make here at the Ritz.
When I am not able to cross the pond for my mother's rhubarb trifle, I make this recipe -- and I always remember not to be stingy with the sherry.
Mark Payne is executive chef of the Ritz-Carlton Chicago, 160 E. Pearson. Look for rhubarb, as well as other straight-from-the-garden delicacies, in a farmers market menu that changes weekly, to be offered in the Cafe at the Ritz-Carlton throughout the summer.