Why Rhubarb Is So Popular In Seattle

Ah rhubarb, the celery of the fruit world. Sour, perplexing, not easily eaten as a hand fruit but still delicious if used properly (which is almost always in a pie). Speaking of, a 2019 YouGov poll asked over 2,000 Americans what their favorite kind of pie was, and just 3% chose strawberry rhubarb, so it's always been a niche item. That is, unless you head to Seattle, where rhubarb is a clearcut favorite on the local fruit scene, despite technically being a vegetable. So the question has to be asked, what makes rhubarb so popular in Seattle? It all comes down to climate and history.

Rhubarb grows best between 40 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, so the Washington climate is ideal. Combined with ample rainfall, Washington has got everything a growing stalk needs. There is no better climate in the U.S. for growing rhubarb than in the Northwest.

Some of the farmers in Washington who grow rhubarb have been doing so for nearly a century. Others have been going even longer and their families run fourth-generation farms that have devised ways to grow the crop all year round in rhubarb hothouses. Rhubarb has become an iconic food of Washington and is as baked into the history of the state as it is into the pies people make there. A 2017 rhubarb census found that Washington grows 275 acres of rhubarb. The next closest state was Michigan, with 126 acres. It's no wonder that Seattle has adopted it so readily.

Sumner, Washington, about 30 miles outside of Seattle, calls itself the Rhubarb Pie Capital of the World. Because rhubarb is one of the earliest crops to grow in the spring, and it grows very quickly, it would have been one of the first items Washington locals found in their grocery stores each season. This pattern goes back to 1893 when the earliest farms were shipping fresh rhubarb to Seattle in bags. While states like Texas still need to import rhubarb because it does not grow there, people in Washington have it in abundance.

It can be daunting for a home chef to try to use rhubarb because, it's not like an apple or a cherry that you can just eat casually. But Seattle Neighborhood Farmers Markets refer to rhubarb as what spring is all about and offer customers extensive ideas for what to do with the sour fruit once they take some home. Beyond strawberry rhubarb pies or rhubarb crumble cakes, you can find recipes for rhubarb and gin sorbet with rose cream, or rhubarb and custard Eton mess, among others.

There are plenty of businesses in the Seattle area that make good use of the crop. Bakeries and ice cream sellers create products out of it, and there's even a company that makes a seasonal strawberry rhubarb ginger beer. The city has really gone out of its way to adopt this underrated ingredient into all kinds of applications. If that inspires you to try some for yourself, we have a few great, rustic rhubarb recipes you can try.