Rhubarb is Back

© Photo by Margarida Correia.

The funny red-tinged celery sticks are back.  They’re what the more food sophisticated know as rhubarb, a plant whose stalks are used by chefs, bakers and homemakers around the world to make pies and pastries as well as a dizzying array of other things — from soup to sauces for chicken, pork and other meat dishes.

Though the plant has many culinary uses, it hasn’t been widely developed commercially.  A good-sized farmers market is about the only place where consumers will find the stalks.

“They came in late this year,” said Gorzynksi Ornery Farm owner John Gorzynski, of the rhubarb he was selling for $6 a pound at the Union Square Greenmarket.  It will be in season for six to eight weeks, till around the time strawberries start coming up in mid-May or early June.