Food - Drink
The Fruit That Pairs Best With Rhubarb Isn't Strawberries
By ERICA MARTINEZ
Some would argue that strawberries and rhubarb are one of the culinary world’s greatest pairings. Together, they make lovely reddish-pink desserts that are both sweet and tart.
However, there's another fruit that makes an even better match for rhubarb’s tart taste: the date. These small, sugary dried fruits don't add tartness to the already sour rhubarb.
Strawberries are a little tart, so you normally add extra sugar to balance out strawberry-rhubarb desserts. Dates, meanwhile, have a natural sweetness that requires little sugar.
The dates' brown sugar, toffee, and caramel flavors balance the incredibly tart flavor of rhubarb in compotes, cakes, chutneys, or sauces for drizzling over ice cream and pastries.
Dates are grown in many parts of America and are not hard to find, although you’re more likely to find fresh dates from the late summer to the early fall in Middle Eastern markets.
Even though fresh dates don’t share the same harvest season, dried dates are available year-round and are just as sweet. Rhubarb, meanwhile, is in season in the springtime.