Recently, we were in the canteen at work and a colleague, who moved here a few years ago, told that she never had rhubarb before.
Then she asked me, probably just for vocab reasons: Rhubarb is a vegetable?
Uhh…
I had never thought about it. I mean, what the heck is this:
Could be a salad, a leafy green. It’s kind of similar to celery, but is celery even a vegetable? Well, and of course, rhubarb is often used like a fruit, so uh…
Well, I looked it up, and scientifically, it does count as a vegetable, but colloquially, it’s often considered a fruit.
I’ve never had rhubarb. I’ve heard it’s sweet (people make pies out of it), but it looks like celery, which is one of my most hated foods. What does it actually taste like? Is it palatable raw?
Rhubarb is actually really sour. As in, if you eat too much of it, your teeth will start feeling as if they’re covered in fur, because it genuinely fucks with your enamel. (Rhubarb contains oxalic acid, which is also used in some tooth whitening products).
But it’s basically never eaten without adding a boatload of sugar to it. So, you can kind of imagine it like those sour sweets, but stronger, and of course, it’s a plant, so the taste is somewhat richer (although still not very rich for a plant).
As for eating it raw, well, then you can’t really add sugar to it, so basically not palatable. I mean, you can do it, but unless you really like sour, it’s just not good.
And it’s only really similar to celery in terms of its texture and crunch. The taste is completely different.
Like today’s computer scientists, early biologists sucked at inventing new words, and simply reused existing ones. “Berry” in common language is a small, usually sweet and edible, fruit. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are all berries.
Then biologists came along and decided, actually, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are out, but watermelon and bananas are in, because the size of the fruit doesn’t matter, only the placement of the seeds decides whether something is a proper, scientific berry.
A similar thing has happened with “fruit” and “vegetable”, where scientific fruits include cucumbers, eggplants, and pumpkins. Luckily, all three of these are also berries.
I say we ignore them, and use words to mean sensible things.
Or we move on with our lives and accept that fruit don’t have to be sweet and vegetables don’t have to be savory. Life is beautiful and nature constantly challenges expectations.
Recently, we were in the canteen at work and a colleague, who moved here a few years ago, told that she never had rhubarb before.
Then she asked me, probably just for vocab reasons: Rhubarb is a vegetable?
Uhh…
I had never thought about it. I mean, what the heck is this:
Could be a salad, a leafy green. It’s kind of similar to celery, but is celery even a vegetable? Well, and of course, rhubarb is often used like a fruit, so uh…
Well, I looked it up, and scientifically, it does count as a vegetable, but colloquially, it’s often considered a fruit.
I’ve never had rhubarb. I’ve heard it’s sweet (people make pies out of it), but it looks like celery, which is one of my most hated foods. What does it actually taste like? Is it palatable raw?
Rhubarb is actually really sour. As in, if you eat too much of it, your teeth will start feeling as if they’re covered in fur, because it genuinely fucks with your enamel. (Rhubarb contains oxalic acid, which is also used in some tooth whitening products).
But it’s basically never eaten without adding a boatload of sugar to it. So, you can kind of imagine it like those sour sweets, but stronger, and of course, it’s a plant, so the taste is somewhat richer (although still not very rich for a plant).
As for eating it raw, well, then you can’t really add sugar to it, so basically not palatable. I mean, you can do it, but unless you really like sour, it’s just not good.
And it’s only really similar to celery in terms of its texture and crunch. The taste is completely different.
The best jam I ever had was raspberry rhubarb
Like today’s computer scientists, early biologists sucked at inventing new words, and simply reused existing ones. “Berry” in common language is a small, usually sweet and edible, fruit. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are all berries.
Then biologists came along and decided, actually, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are out, but watermelon and bananas are in, because the size of the fruit doesn’t matter, only the placement of the seeds decides whether something is a proper, scientific
berry.A similar thing has happened with “fruit” and “vegetable”, where scientific
fruitsinclude cucumbers, eggplants, and pumpkins. Luckily, all three of these are alsoberries.I say we ignore them, and use words to mean sensible things.
i prefer to classify all of what you said as simply “food”
simple yet accurate. I’m a scientist now.
this describes engineers more in my experience. science embraces the chaos of discovery. engineers just want to make fruit salad.
Or we move on with our lives and accept that fruit don’t have to be sweet and vegetables don’t have to be savory. Life is beautiful and nature constantly challenges expectations.
🅱️erries
If a new berry was invented, computer scientists will probably call them “βerries”, next one “ϐerries” (cursive beta)
Γerries
Pronounced “cherries”
Rhubarb is pretty weird, especially for people who grew up where it’s not a thing.