IT has not always had good Press because of its tartness and the fact it used to be mainly stewed and used in pies, tarts and crumbles.
But that Yorkshire tradition, rhubarb (a vegetable that plays at being a fruit), is back in fashion and a firm favourite with some of the nation's leading chefs.

Anyone who watched Ready Steady Cook on BBC 2 last week will have seen Calderdale born celebrity chef, Brian Turner, making amazing recipes with rhubarb. Nearer home another well known chef, Scott Hessel is doing his bit to put it back where he believes it belongs – on our dinner tables at home.

"I absolutely adore rhubarb. It is so versatile and can liven up many a dish. Which is why I am backing a campaign by Yorkshire growers to achieve a protected status for it, equivalent to say Champagne or Parma ham," says Scott who is currently holding a rhubarb festival at his award-winning Old Bore pub and restaurant in Oldham Road, Rishworth, which runs until May 4.

So far it has been a real success and might become an annual event both in Ripponden and at Scott's latest pub and restaurant, the Carlton Bore at Carlton Husthwaite near Thirsk.

The festival includes a special menu of starters, mains and desserts using the ingredient. It even includes a rhubarb cheese called Ruby Gold which is made in Yorkshire.

"The cheese itself is a young ewe's milk cheese made by Shepherds Purse, Thirsk, and matured by Yorkshire cheesemonger Cryer and Stott with rhubarb for eight days. It is stunning and really unusual," he says..

"Rhubarb is such a Yorkshire tradition. At one stage it was shipped by the ton to the south before the introduction of exotic fruits," says Scott who has owned the Old Bore for the last three years.

In the UK, the first rhubarb of the season is grown by candlelight in dark sheds dotted around the noted "Rhubarb Triangle" of Wakefield, Leeds and Morley. The outdoor season runs from April to September. "Forced rhubarb is a superior product to the outdoor reared variety as it is softer, juicer and less woody," says Scott who claims there are concerns over global warming affecting the production of forced rhubarb as it needs the bitter winter cold to cultivate it.

According to him the forced rhubarb season is eagerly awaited by chefs and customers alike because it is a seasonal alternate to the autumnal fruits, when there are few alternatives. "Its bright crimson colour cheers up chefs. It gives a sense of new beginnings in the seasonal calendar," says Scott who trained as a chef under the Roux brothers and Marco Pierre White before working in Michelin-starred kitchens in London and France. Rhubarb festival dishes include starters of foie gras, black pudding and rhubarb to hot oysters with rhubarb; a classic combination of pork cutlets with rhubarb and halibut with rhubarb.

Here are a couple of Scott's recipes to try at home. Each serves four people.

Roast Goosnargh duck breast, ginger, star anise and rhubarb
(Serve with buttered spring greens and crispy rosti potatoes or bubble 'n' squeak. Goosnargh is where Reg Johnson breeds some fantastic poultry in Lancashire)
4 duck breasts
1" ginger really thinly sliced
8 star anise
1 stalk of rhubarb really thinly sliced on an angle
Brown sugar
Bunch of watercress

Roast the duck breasts in a hot non stick frying pan, if possible just cook them on the skin side which removes all the excess fat and leaves the skin crispy.
Baste the soft flesh regularly. Cook the duck to your desired taste and remember to season well with salt, black pepper and the addition of the star anise in the pan. The garnish can be cooked once the duck is roasted and rested.
Use the same pan with most of the fat removed, fry slices of ginger and rhubarb till lightly crispy, with a little brown sugar. To serve, carve the duck breast, scatter with watercress and the crisp ginger and rhubarb.

Pomfret Cake creme brulee, poached rhubarb and brandy snaps
(Another institution from Yorkshire which goes incredibly well with rhubarb, served up with a favourite of mine, the brandy snaps. If you are feeling a bit lazy you can buy some great brandy snaps from shops or farmers markets around Yorkshire)
½ litre of whipping cream
8-10 Pomfret cakes chopped
100g sugar
6 free range egg yolks
Rhubarb
Brandy snaps

Bring the cream to the boil, add the chopped Pomfret cakes and pour over whisked yolks and sugar. Pour into ramekins and cook in a bain Marie for an hour at 90 degrees or till just set, chill overnight if possible. Using a really hot grill or blow torch caramelise a crust of sugared skin on the top of the brulee, serve with poached rhubarb flavoured with orange, vanilla and sugar. Serve with brandy snaps.

Fact file

• Rhubarb is a vegetable, not a fruit.


• There are around 60 species of rhubarb across the world.


• While we eat rhubarb stems, the leaves of the plant contain poisonous subsstances.


• A tender stick of rhubarb dipped in sugar was once a common and affordable sweet


• for children in the UK.


• In warmer climates, rhubarb grows all year round.


• The phrase "out in the rhubarb patch" can be used to describe an outlying villlage. This is because rhubarb is generally grown at a garden's perimeter in a less attractive and unkept plot.