What's So Great About Wakefield's Rhubarb?

Wakefield is part of the rhubarb triangle of Yorkshire. The other two areas making up the triangle are Leeds and Bradford. Wakefield especially celebrates its rhubarb heritage with The Wakefield Festival of Food, Drink and Rhubarb, held in February.

The rhubarb is special because it is 'forced'. This means that it has been encouraged to grow sooner than it naturally would, providing an early crop. The rhubarb is grown in artificial conditions where it is 'fooled' into thinking it is time to grow. In candle lit forcing sheds, the rhubarb is nourished and nurtured and then hand picked when ready.

The rhubarb grows very quickly - up to 5cm a day and you can actually hear it emerging from the soil. What other food plant can you hear creaking as it grows? - it's pretty amazing stuff!

The resulting vegetable (yes, it is technically a vegetable) is pink skinned but white inside. Good quality specimens are between 40 and 45 cm long and between 1 and 2 cm thick. The taste is delicately acidic.

Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb has now gained the hallowed status of Protected Designation of Origin, issued under the European Commission's Protected Food Name scheme and becomes the 41st British foodstuff to make the list.

It has also reached star status at Chelsea Flower show with a garden dedicated to it. The 2010 Courtyard Gardens section entry to the show was called the Rhubarb and Custard Garden. Rhubarb plants for the centrepiece were supplied by E. Oldroyd & Sons and the carpet of yellow "custard" was represented by a mat of golden sedum. Terracotta forcing pots were on show and supplied by the York Handmade Brick Co. The garden won a Silver Medal and was voted The Public's Favorite (small garden).

Big name chefs such as Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall, James Martin, Marco Pierre White and Jean- Christophe Novelli are all fans of Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb. Rick Stein has endorsed E Oldroyd and Sons as a Rick Stein Food Hero Producer and 5 generations of the family have now been in the rhubarb industry..

For anyone wishing to sample the product, the crop is available from January to April and for anyone wanting to visit the forcing sheds owned by the Oldroyd's, tours are available throughout February and March, although peak time is during The Wakefield Festival of Food, Drink and Rhubarb and tours sell out months in advance.