Eats Shoots and Leaves How do you make a rhubarb cordial? Susan Jane White tells us

It’s rhubarb-mania here in my Covid-19 kitchen. I’ve pickled rhubarb, coaxed it into crumbles, peppered it into cookies with white chocolate, and even chopped it into salsa (don’t try this at home). But the winning entry is this week’s rhubarb & ginger syrup — or cordial, if you prefer. Ginger adds a delicious heat to anything it touches. I need to restrain myself from adding fresh ginger to everything in my orbit, such is my obsession.

Quite aside from ginger’s tastiness, this bulbous little beaut is practically panting with antioxidants. Why such excitement? We’re told we need antioxidants to zap marauding oxidants in our body (these are more commonly referred to as free radicals).

Where can you find these pesky, good-for-nothing free radicals? Well, everywhere, I’m afraid: they are in air pollutants, chemical exposure, junk food, processed meats, alcohol, cigarettes, even UV rays in daylight. And guess what? We also manufacture many of our own renegade free radicals (stressed, anyone?) which is why we really want to source lots of superhero antioxidants through our diet. Our bodies are constantly battling with, and banishing these free radicals — it’s happening right now inside our system all day long without requiring our attention or any conscious effort. Impressive, huh? So give your body a good hug and praise it for being so damn clever. We are an absolute wonder; a total miracle, each and every one of us.

And for good measure, I’ve added lots of fresh lime juice to this recipe for a further injection of antioxidants and some lordly vitamin C. These bumptious little baubles are often bypassed in the supermarket in favour of their famous yellow cousin, the lemon. Big mistake. Limes are the backing singer of the citrus clan — they are less loud, and less brash, but considerably more talented.