The traditional springtime mixture of strawberries and rhubarb is ideal for individuals like me who haven’t got an enormous candy tooth. It is also good for individuals who do. Rhubarb—technically a vegetable, however used extra usually in fruit contexts, like pie fillings—is solely tart, with virtually no hint of sweetness. Strawberries assist push it extra decisively into ripe-fruit territory, however you continue to want further sugar to stability rhubarb’s intense sourness. And that is what’s so nice about it: Add as a lot or as little sugar as you want to fit your style.

One among my favourite methods to organize strawberries and rhubarb is stewed right into a compote. It is quick, versatile, and completely customizable. I make mine simply candy sufficient that I can serve it as a dessert, however not so candy that it’d appear junky to eat it as breakfast, too. In each instances, that usually means spooned on prime of a bowl of yogurt, but it surely’d be simply as pleased alongside contemporary ricotta or mascarpone, panna cotta, cake, waffles, pancakes, crepes, scones, toast, or, when you’re feeling further British, crumpets.

For an attention-grabbing taste twist, I add a small quantity of floor fennel seed, which is simply as profitable at fastidiously strolling the sweet-savory razor’s edge—it isn’t a heat spice like cinnamon or nutmeg, but it surely nonetheless has anise notes that work with all types of desserts. Pull again on the sugar just a bit extra and you possibly can completely eat this with a pork chop.

To start out, I cube the rhubarb into chunks, then put it on the warmth in a saucepan with a small quantity of water, which generates sufficient steam to get the cooking began. In a preparation like this, I like my rhubarb totally softened and damaged down, so I let it cook dinner for a couple of minutes this manner, coated, earlier than including the strawberries.

Then I add the strawberries, which I cook dinner till they’re very mushy and plump, including a burst of sensible coloration. I add the fennel and sugar as properly, normally spooning within the sugar to style till I really feel like I’ve hit my desired sweetness—whether or not that is candy sufficient for pork or candy sufficient for an ice cream sundae.

June 2016

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