Story of Rhubarb./ルバーブの物語

Oct.2012

RHUBARB SOUR CREAM PIE* 

-hilbarn Recipe, October-

FROM THE HILBARN BOX:

1 whole bunch rhubarb, roughly chopped

4 large golden delicious apples, peeled, cored & sliced

ADD:

3/4 cup raw sugar

1/2 packet Marie (or Milk Arrowroot) biscuits, crushed

1 cup coconut

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup caster sugar

175g butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sour cream

milk 

cinnamon

1 Put apples, rhubarb and raw sugar in a large pot and place over medium heat, covering with a lid. Stir from time to time, and when fruit is mostly broke down, remove lid and turn heat down to low. Simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour until mixture is smooth and thick. 

2 Butter and flour a 28cm tart tin. Preheat oven to 180 C.  Put crushed biscuits, coconut, flour, caster sugar and butter in a bowl and combine well. Scoop out roughly half the mixture into the tin, spread it over the base and press it flat. Move around the sides of the tin pressing handfuls of the mixture to the edges. Cut around the top of the tin with a knife so the edge is no longer ragged and press a finger into the top of each scoop to smooth the surface. 

3 Put the base in the oven and cook for about 20 mins or until the sides are lightly browned. Spoon in the still-warm rhubarb,  leaving 0.5 - 1 cm of the pie shell showing at the top. Smooth the surface.

4 Put the sour cream in a bowl with a few drops of milk and stir until smooth. Pour it over the rhubarb and spread to edges. Sprinkle with cinnamon and place in oven for 10 - 15 minutes, until the sour cream sets and has a glazed appearance. 

5 Leave to cool to room temp before removing the rim of the tin and serving. 

* Hil found this recipe in The Hungry Girls' Cookbook and  has cooked it a million times. 

I wanted to cook and taste Rhubarb yesterday, because I thought it would help drawing the illustration recipe of "Rhubarb Sour Cream Pie" for hilbarn. I had never cooked Rhubarb and I wasn't sure what it taste like. It was already 6:30pm when I went out shopping. Surprisingly, it's still blight outside and little flowers were blooming everywhere, so walking outside was not so bad. 
I went down to the supermarket in the city, but I couldn't find any Rhubarb. Why isn't Rhubarb here? I was so disappointed, as I walked down all the way from home to the supermarket on Friday evening!
I decided to not give up. I went to another supermarket to find Rhubarb  Unfortunately, the supermarket didn't have Rhubarb either! I was so disappointed. What can I do?

I didn't want to give up making Rhubarb pie that night. I was thinking "what could I use instead of Rhubarb? Celery as it has similar shape? Beatroot as it has a nice red colour?" When I was wondering around the vegetable section of the supermarket, one lady called my name "Hey Mako!!". She was the one who liked my exhibition at milkbar. We chatted while and then, I asked her "Do you think beetroot can replace Rhubarb in a sour cream pie?" She said "No way! It's sooo different. I have a rhubarb at my house. My partner likes taking care of our vege garden and cooking. Come to my house. I will give you fresh Rhubarb " "Really!? That's sounds really great. How kind you are!" I said. She gave me a lift to her house. Her partner and children were there and were friendly. We went to their garden and 

I got fresh Rhubarb!
どうしてもルバーブ・パイを今夜作りたい。と、諦めきれないわたしはルバーブの代わりになるような食材を探すことにした。見た目が似てるからセロリ？綺麗な赤い色をもつビートルーツ？スーパーの野菜売り場を歩き回っていたら、「ヘイ！マコ！」と突然声をかけられた。振り向くと、以前milkbarで行った展覧会でわたしのカフェスケッチを気に入ってくれた女性が立っていた。この小さな街では、知ってる人にしょっちゅう出くわすのだ。世間話をあれこれしてから、ふと「サワークリームパイを作ろうとおもってうんだけど、ビートルーツってルバーブの代わりとして使えるかしら？」と聞いてみた。すると「No way! ありえない！ 」とのこと、「ビートルーツとルバーブは全然違うんだから。パイには使えないよ。ルバーブならわたしの家にあるわよ。裏庭で育ててるの。パートナーが料理とか家庭菜園の手入れをしたりが好きな男でね。うちにいらっしゃいよ。庭のルバーブ収穫して、新鮮なものを使いなさいな。」なんてありがたいこと。わたしの答えはもちろん「嬉しいです。よろしくお願いします。」で、そのまま一緒に買い物すませて、車に乗っけてもらってルバーブのあるお宅へ。にこにこしてて気さくなパートナーさんとこどもさんとみんなで庭に出て「これがルバーブだよ」って家庭菜園まで案内してもらって。そうしてついに、新鮮なルバーブを手に入れることができました！

So I cooked the pie following the recipe. It was really tasty.  My housemates and friends said they like the Rhubarb Sour Cream Pie. After we enjoyed tasting, then I made the illustration recipe on top of this journal. 

Thanks to the lady who took me to their vege garden and gave fresh rhubarb. That's why I like Tasmania.

その夜、わたしはレシピにそってルバーブ・サワークリームパイを作ることに成功。ルバーブとリンゴを煮詰めるときに鍋の底を少し焦がしてしまったけど、それでもすごくおいしくできて、ハウスメイトと友達にも好評。で、これなら大丈夫、と自信を持って、この日記の初めにのせてあるルバーブ・サワークリームパイのレシピのイラストレーションを一気に仕上げることができました。ほんとに、ご自宅まで連れて行ってくれて、庭のルバーブを収穫させてくれた方に感謝。だからすきなのよね。タスマニア