Get to know your rhubarb
Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb. I love this time of the year. If you live in England or France, you have probably started to see these long pink sticks at the grocer or at the supermarket. For some reasons, every time I talk about rhubarb to my friends here, they often never have bought it!
I guess compare to other fruits, you can’t really bite into it and eat it like that. I mean, you could, if you you are part of the ones who enjoy an acidic tough bite. So from this perspective, it sounds intimidating.
But I am here to tell you that next time you find some rhubarb, just buy it! They are SO many ways in which you can use your rhubarb. I love it in cakes, where you can use it like any fruits, diced and thrown into a sweet batter, or in tarts, crumbles, and of course, jam.
A family tradition
If you follow me on Instagram, you have probably seen me sharing my mum and her 15kg of rhubarb, ready to make some jam. She makes about 100 jars of jam a year. Just like both my grandmothers. And every year, there are always jam jar swaps happening 🙂 They make jam from yellow cherries, peaches, black berries, strawberries, figs etc. and of course rhubarb.
Hence why I have never really liked/ consumed shop bought jam. Don’t give me wrong, you can buy delicious homemade jam from some delis, which probably would be similar to the ones I like. But I know for a fact, that at home in London, I never feel tempted by jam, if it is not homemade.
As a family of 5, we would definitely go through a jam jar per night. I remember the fights with my brother and sister, about who was going to eat the last prune in the rhubarb jam jar. My mum ended up making sure there were 3 prunes per jam jar, to avoid future discords. The prunes would soak up all of the rhubarb sweetened juice, making it was a little bite of heaven.
So easy to make your own jam at home
You probably know by now, that I am not really a purist. I always find the best and simple ways which work for me. And it is the same for making jam. I like my jam to be gorged with fruits rather than too much sugar. I put 75% of sugar per amount of fruit. And a squeeze of a lemon.
You’ll need 1h end to end to make your own jam, which you will be able to keep it for up to 2 years once they have been sterilised well. I am sure you will eat it before though, but it is good to know! So let’s make some delicious rhubarb and strawberry jam!
Quantity: For 3 medium jam jar
Utensils: a large pot, 3 clean jam jars
Difficulty
Ingredients
- 500g of strawberries
- 500g of rhubarb
- 750g of sugar
- juice of one lemon
Method
- Prepare your fruits: Wash and dice the strawberries and the rhubarb. Pour over all of the sugar on top and leave to soak for a minimum of 30 minutes. You will see how much juice comes out of the rhubarb and strawberry.
- Cook the rhubarb and strawberry jam: Bring the mix to boil and boil for 5 minutes. Reduce down to simmer, and cook it for about 30 minutes, always looking after it and gently mixing every so often. The consistency should be glossy, quite thick and jammy.
- Quick sterilise the jars: Pour the hot hot jam onto the cleaned jars, lock with the top and place upside down. Then I like to boil the jars into water for about 30 minutes ( still upside down) to make sure it is nice and sterilised.
Et voila! A super easy and fruity rhubarb and strawberry homemade jam! I love it in greek yogurt, on top of diced fruits, bread and butter etc etc …
More fruits recipes on Manon’s Little Kitchen
