Rhubarb and blood orange crumble

Forced rhubarb is a mysterious crop grown in sheds in Yorkshire.

According to one of these growers at Brandy Carr Nurseries it and others are trying to get EU-protected status, which would preserve a highly localised industry threatened by cheap imports from the Netherlands and elsewhere.

Growers plant rhubarb crowns outdoors, leave them untouched for two to three years, then lift them and leave them on the ground until first frosts or a really cold rain.

In early November they are replanted by hand in large, dark, warm sheds.

You wonder how anyone ever found out rhubarb would grow like this, but being a Lancastrian I'd best keep any comments about Yorkshire to myself.

Forced rhubarb is said to have a more delicate flavour than the outdoor-grown stuff, but the difference isn't great enough to mean you can't use the same recipes.

Here's one to keep out the winter cold.

It uses blood oranges, most of which come from Sicily and are imported at this time of year. Any sweet oranges will do the job, however.

Ingredients
440g/1lb rhubarb, topped and tailed and cut into thick slices
110g/4oz brown or granulated sugar
One blood orange, juice squeezed out and rind grated
110g/4oz plain or wholemeal flour
55g/2oz oats
85g/3oz butter or margarine

What to do
Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Mark 4.

Cook the rhubarb and half the sugar together in an uncovered pan, adding a little water.

When it's cooked, drain excess liquid and set aside while you put the rhubarb in an ovenproof dish.

Boil the liquid up until it develops a syrupy consistency, then stir in the orange juice. Add to rhubarb.

Make the crumble by rubbing the fat into the flour then mixing in the oats, the rest of the sugar and the grated rind.

Spread this on top of the rhubarb and bake for half an hour. Serve with cream, yoghurt or (best of all) custard.