RSSRhubarb Triangle
Jul 01
Eating and Drinking Yorkshire Rhubarb No Comments
Around 90% of the worlds ‘forced’ winter rhubarb comes from a small area in Yorkshire. That area is lovingly known as the ‘rhubarb triangle’ whose points lay at the the city of Wakefield and the towns of Morley and Rothwell. Within this nine square miles lay the smaller villages of East Ardsley, Stanley, Lofthouse and Carlton.
Traveling though these areas you’ll see dozens of ‘forcing sheds’ in which the rhubarb is grown out of season. ‘Forced Rhubarb’ is often a brighter red colour than outdoor cultivated plants and is often sweeter with a more tender texture. The rhubarb is ‘forced’ by raising the temperature local to the plant – this is often done by covering the shoots as they comes through the soil, the rhubarb thrives in this spring/summer temperature and grows as such.
Rhubarb is native to Siberia and therefore enjoys the cold Yorkshire winters! The type of rhubarb produced in Yorkshire carries the name ‘Forced Yorkshire Rhubarb’ and, in the same was Champagne may only be branded as such if it is produced in the Champagne region – Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb was, in February 2010 awarded Protected Designation of Origin status by the European Commission’s protected Food Name Scheme.
The ‘forcing’ of Rhubarb is a time consuming and delicate process. Firstly, the rhubarb plants are grown outside and not touched for roughly two years. This gives the plants strong roots and the energy they hold within them bolsters these growth when they are moved indoors. This transfer is done in deep winter, normally November, where the farmers can ensure the plants have been subjected to a frost before they are plunged into the darkness of the sheds. As the temperature rises the plants begin to grow – however, the rhubarb grows and is tended to by candlelight, anything more would halt the growing process. Traditionally the coal mining heritage of the rhubarb triangle meant coal was the cheapest way to heat the sheds, however, with the decline of the mining in the area, diesel is now preferred.
Between the late 1800s and around 1940 an express train stopped at Ardsley railway station every day of the ‘forcing’ season. This express locomotive was specifically designated to carry rhubarb down to the south of England and over the channel to France. The food markets of London and Paris could sell however much of the sweet produce was shipped to them and the industry had thousands of farmers and farm hands ensuring the train ran at full capacity everyday. At it’s peak, 200 tons of rhubarb followed the tracks to the capital and beyond everyday!
Although the market today is not quite so demanding the triangle lives on. Although at it’s peak the area had expanded from the 9 miles mentioned to a huge 30 mile area, it now rests comfortably back with the original Wakefield-Rothwell-Morley triangle. Wakefields council has rhubarb festival every February and die-hard fans of the plant can come and see chefs muster up some of the finest recipes – after they’ve had the pleasure of touring the forcing fields. You’ll see Wakefield councils lasting acknowledgement of the triangle in Holmfield Park where they erected a sculpture depicting the humble rhubarb plant in 2005.
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