BRITISH IN PARTICULAR

In our new series, we celebrate some of the delicious, quintessential ingredients that are farmed, fished, made and grown up and down the country, and meet the remarkable producers who help bring them to our table

An in-depth look at the delicious ingredients farmed, fished, made and grown in the UK. This month: rhubarb

This month: rhubarb

Just outside the village of Carlton, West Yorkshire, on this icy-bright February day, something peculiar is occurring in the sheds of Ashfield Farm. Step inside and all is dark, save for the soft light of long candles held on metal poles stuck into the ground. It’s cathedral-quiet, too, despite the fact there are 15 men working away, carefully harvesting sticks of rhubarb. The peacefulness is spellbinding, the silence punctuated only by crackles and pops as the waxy buds burst open – listen carefully and you’ll hear their stems creak as they grow (up to an inch a day). The plants themselves aren’t in the soil – their roots simply sit on the floor next to each other. “Some people say they look like triffids about to march forwards,” says Janet Oldroyd-hulme, a fourth-generation farmer who, alongside her husband, Neil, and two sons, Lindsay and James, is responsible for this unusual environment. “By growing the crop in the dark, we can stop acidity levels rising – which leads to a tartness we don’t want,” she explains. “This means that the inner flesh of the ruby red sticks remains tender, white and far sweeter than that of tougher outdoor-cultivated rhubarb, which is what makes these so prized.”

Janet, whose background is actually in microbiology, runs one of just 11 farms still forcing an indoor crop in the famous Rhubarb Triangle – a nine-square-mile area that exists between Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford. Her family has done this in the same spot ever since her great-grandfather, market gardener John Oldroyd, exchanged his strawberry-growing skills for the knowledge of a local rhubarb farmer. The technique is said to have been discovered in the Chelsea Physic Garden in 1817, when the plant’s roots were accidentally covered with soil and the resulting shoots thought so delicious that the current agricultural system was eventually developed – in Yorkshire 60 years later. This land of big skies and undulating hills has a climate not unlike that of the vegetable’s (it is often thought of, wrongly, as a fruit) native Siberia – with high rainfall and frosts – and the ideal soil type of medium to heavy loam and ‘shoddy’, a nitrogen-rich waste product of the county’s wool industry used to fertilise the fields.

In order to produce the roots required for forcing, plants are raised outside, 40cm apart, for two years, during which time no stems are picked. This ensures maximum energy is stored within for the optimum production of tender shoots once in situ in the seven sheds. After a measured amount of frost in the third winter, the roots are ready to transfer indoors. Lindsay and his team use their unique machine – a cross between a leek cutter and an old potato harvester – to lift them out of the soil and gently shake off the excess earth. A single plant can be so heavy that it requires three men to heave it onto a trailer with specially made three-pronged forks, designed to avoid damage. It then takes up to three days for them to fill each shed, after which the roots are power-hosed to remove the possibility of infections from fungal spores and grit, which could scratch the delicate sticks , 200 tonnes of which are produced each year and supplied to supermarkets – including Sainsbury’s – as well as the wholesale market in Covent Garden. The sheds are cleared in late March and the spent roots composted to be replaced the following year by fresh virgin stock.

Originally, there were 200 farms in the Rhubarb Triangle practising this specialist,

labour-intensive form of agriculture, but the crop declined in popularity following World War II due to the rationing of sugar – a key component in many rhubarb dishes – and then afterwards because of the increasing availability of imported exotic fruits and access to refrigeration. Many went out of business, but the Oldroyds continued to grow rhubarb, indoors and out – not just that, but they expanded to become one of the largest producers. This was due to the unwavering belief of Janet’s father Ken, who had been enchanted by this mystical plant from the age of ten. “He had great faith in rhubarb – he bought up land with the special soil structure he was looking for from those who were leaving the industry,” Janet says. He suggested his daughter return to the farm when her job at a hospital in Leeds didn’t allow her the flexibility she needed as a mother of two small boys: “Being handy with a scalpel, I could help with a new technique for splitting roots.” She eventually took over the running of the farm with her older brother Graham (who is now retired), though their father was always around to dispense invaluable advice until he passed away aged 84: “I often wish he was here now, so I could ask him questions.”

Thankfully, Ken lived to see rhubarb begin to make a comeback in the 1990s. His daughter continued his ambassadorial role, too, being instrumental in obtaining the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) mark in 2010 for farms in the triangle. “That status isn’t saying that you can’t force rhubarb anywhere else, but that stems under the PDO label are of the quality and flavour expected of Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb,” Janet explains. In fact, she is an all-round champion of this curious plant, doing everything from welcoming visitors to the farm during the forcing season and giving talks and tours around the sheds, to helping gardeners who call her for advice about growing their own plants at home.

Another boost for the formerly humble food’s reputation is that it has been hailed for its health-giving properties, being high in calcium and antioxidants, and great for metabolic stimulation (it has even been included as a possible ingredient in the development of cancer-fighting drugs). Due to her underactive thyroid, Janet has greater reason to be a fan of her own produce and, during the forcing season, enjoys it cooked in pure orange juice and topped with yogurt for breakfast.

With both sons involved in the business – not to mention a promising apprentice in Lindsay’s four-yearold daughter, Ayda – and a loyal clientele, including several celebrity chefs, E. Oldroyd & Sons’ future is as bright as the scarlet stems of its famous forced rhubarb. Read on for a selection of delicious recipes that feature rhubarb in a starring role.

E. Oldroyd & Sons, Hopefield Farm, Leadwell Lane, Rothwell, Leeds (0113 282 2245; yorkshirerhubarb.co.uk). CL readers can enjoy a ten per cent discount on forced rhubarb (minimum 4kg) when quoting CLMO98 by 16 February 2018, plus a ten per cent discount on a family or individual tours when quoting CLTOUR98 throughout the season. Not to be redeemed in conjunction with any other offer.