Home baker Louise Piper won a 1997 blue ribbon at the Iowa State Fair with this pie. The recipe appeared in Leah Eskin’s “State Fair” (July/August 1998).
This is an adaptation of a dish former SAVEUR editor-in-chief Colman Andrews enjoyed at Chapter One in Dublin, Ireland, during his 2006 odyssey to discover true Irish food. Get the recipe for Port-Poached Rhubarb With Vanilla Ice Cream »See the RecipeChristopher HirsheimerSee the RecipeChristopher Hirsheimer
When harvesting garden rhubarb, choose tender, young shoots, discard the rhubarb leaves—which are toxic—and peel any large, tough stems as you would with celery. Commercially grown rhubarb doesn’t need peeling; buy only firm, crisp stalks, and store them in the refrigerator. See the recipe for Shaker Rhubarb Pie »
Rhubarb, a reddish pink vegetable that grows in celery-like stalks and is harvested through the late summer, has a pleasing tartness, so it pairs well with sweet strawberries in a jam.