Red Champagne rhubarb the name alone of this type of rhubarb conjures up  a fizz of taste bud excitement.  Wilde Chutney sources her red champagne rhubarb from the one and only Wim Bijma  (personal hero :-)) in Amsterdam West. 

 Rhubarb season is upon us so this years rhubarb & rosepetal chutney and cordial is now available.

My favorite cheese pairing is Doeties swartetoer. For more information about this cheese and the cheese maker. See link below.

   Doeties cheese

Red Champangne Rhubarb backround information from Slow food Amsterdam:

Rhubarb belongs to the *Polygonaceae* (knotweed) family, just like buckwheat and sorrel. Rhubarb originated in the region of southern Russia near the Volga River. The plant made its way to Italy via the Red Sea and Greece. The use of its leaf stalks was known in the Middle East and began to take off in England from 1750 onwards. Commercial cultivation of rhubarb began in England around 1800. Fifty years later, it was being grown in Germany, and by 1900, in the Netherlands as well.

Why is this variety called ‘Champagne Red’?

‘Champagne Red’ rhubarb has a characteristic fresh, tart, and slightly tangy flavor. It is possible that the plant owes its name to that tanginess, though there are other stories regarding its origins. There was a time when large quantities of rhubarb were exported from England to the Champagne region. Stories suggest that the first champagne was enriched with rhubarb; however, due to high costs, this process was apparently abandoned. No evidence of this practice has been found to date. It is a mid-early variety but is not very popular among growers because, in terms of production, it falls just short of the top varieties. In the Wageningen gene bank, this variety is listed on the ‘Orange List’ (indicating it is a variety of interest but not widely cultivated), yet it is still being grown! Wim Bijma grows several hundred bunches per season in Osdorp. He obtained the ‘Champagne’ rhubarb from Jan Geschiere. Jan was a market gardener in Spaarndam who was forced to close his business in the 1980s due to encroaching residential development.

Geschiere, a rhubarb specialist, gave the last of his ‘Champagne’ rhubarb plants to Wim, who has been lovingly tending to the ‘wood’—as rhubarb is still known in the trade—for some thirty years now. Rhubarb growers would set about ‘chopping wood’: the stalks were placed in a crate, and the leaves were chopped off so that the rhubarb fit perfectly inside. The thicker ‘Paragon’ variety, in particular, produced a sound like chopping wood during this process. Wim’s ‘Champagne rhubarb’ is harvested more carefully, as these are the last remaining plants of a famous variety that is no longer grown anywhere else.

I had the pleasure last year to visit Jose at Gospa Orange groves in Seville. His enthusiasm  and kindness while showing me their family business was inspiring.

 Now that Seville orange season is upon us, Jose has sent Wilde Chutney a few crates of organic bitter oranges to make mamalade. And just as my mother's,  Wilde Chutney's kitchen is filled with these organic beauties from Seville. Sun with the promise and smell of spring.

Mummys' Organic marmalade is now available

This year will bring  new recipes with exciting new flavours. Will keep you all posted.

In the meantime I would like to thank all my customers both new and old for their custom and wish you all peace and kindness for the new year!

 The days are getting shorter and autumn has definitely set in. The kitchen of Wilde Chutney is full with gieser wildeman pears just harvested from Rene, the organic fruit farmer in North Holland. I love going to his farm and harvesting from my adopted pear trees. It was a good crop be it albeit early this year. Rene says it down to the very wet spring and long hot summer.

The first batch of gieser wildeman pear chutney and cordial has been made and is available until stocks last.

My favorite cheese pairing with this chutney is Mont d'or.