I wanted to begin this post by saying “Rhubarb isn’t just for dessert. In fact, if you google ‘rhubarb isn’t just for dessert’ you get dozens of the most amazing results.” But, unfortunately, you don’t. Just about all of the google results you get are for desserts — rhubarb crisps, rhubarb ice cream, rhubarb pies— though you do get one page entitled “rhubarb, it isn’t just for Yankees anymore!”

Rhubarb really is much too delicious to be relegated to the end of the meal. It makes a great sauce to serve alongside a roast pork loin, for example. And there’s a very interesting looking balsamic rhubarb compote posted recently on Epicurious’ Epi-Log blog.

Its tartness beautifully offsets sweet flavors, in much the same way that lemons do. Since its fresh-tartness is so refreshing, it makes a great drink.  So far this spring I’ve made two versions of it: a rhubarb-ginger lemonade and a rhubarb-strawberry lemonade. Both have been delicious.

The technique couldn’t be simpler: roughly chop the rhubarb and its accompaniments, put them into a saucepan with sugar, water and lemon zest, and boil. Let everything simmer for a while, let it steep together as it cools a bit, then strain it. Add lemon juice. When you’re thirsty, pour some of this syrup in a glass, top with water – preferably the carbonated kind – add ice and stir. Add a garnish of lemon peel or a lemon slice if you’re feeling patient and classy enough.

Last summer I used this method to make a varieties of berry sodas. They were delicious, though as I described, not very refined: the ordinary, medium-mesh strainer I used produced a thick, pulpy syrup. I had no complaints — the drinks I made with it were terrific, but this year I wanted to find a way to make my soda syrups a bit clearer. I went up the street to the Brooklyn Kitchen for some cheesecloth, but a helpful shopkeeper directed me instead to a pack of nylon jam-straining bags. I think they’re supposed to go along with some other equipment in a jam-straining kit, but I found they work very well simply draped around my mesh strainer. They have a big advantage over cheesecloth in that they’re re-useable.

And they produce a beautiful, clear syrup, which in turn made a clear, pulp-free drink.  I’m petty happy with my rhubarb-ades so far, and I hope there’s enough time left in rhubarb season to experiment with more flavors. Rhubarb-orange? Rhubarb-carrot? Rhubarb-vodka?

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