Sunday, August 2, 2009

Rhubarbs

Some friends let me borrow something this weekend that was super useful, so in order to thank them, I made one of their favorite pies, strawberry rhubarb. I really hate to give away things that I am making for the first time, so usually I make a miniature version to make sure it is good enough to say, yes I made this. Only, here's the thing, I'm doing a cleanse, and shockingly enough, strawberry rhubarb pie is not on the approved food list. So, I just went on a wing and a prayer and delivered an un-sampled pie. While I was chopping up the rhubarb I tried one of the pieces, and let me tell you, it was the most sour thing I have ever put in my mouth. (I used this recipe for the filling. And they loved the pie.)

As I tried the sour, sour rhubarb I thought of our friends, the Zoroastrians, whose creation myth involves a rhubarb from which the first human couple would be born. When I first heard that, I thought it was crazy -- but no more or less crazy than other creation theories and stories, (maybe a little more crazy...) -- but now that I know rhubarbs are sour, it kind of makes sense that that would be the plant that would provide humanity its beginning.

1 comment:

Daniel and Monica Long said...

Funny! When my sisters and I were younger, we had "rhubarb ceremonies" where we'd sit and a circle, chant a little song and then each individually eat a piece of rhubarb. Whoever made a face was out! Miss being young but definitely DO NOT miss that awful plant!