- Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate fears
- Luxury Western goods line Russian stores, three years into sanctions
- Wallace and Gromit return with comic warning about AI dystopia
- Philippine military says will acquire US Typhon missile system
- Afghan bread, the humble centrepiece of every meal
- Honda and Nissan expected to begin merger talks
- 'Draconian' Vietnam internet law heightens free speech fears
- Israeli women mobilise against ultra-Orthodox military exemptions
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate worries
- Tens of thousands protest in Serbian capital over fatal train station accident
- Trump vows to 'stop transgender lunacy' as a top priority
- Daniels throws five TDs as Commanders down Eagles, Lions and Vikings win
- 'Who's next?': Misinformation and online threats after US CEO slaying
- Only 12 trucks delivered food, water in North Gaza Governorate since October: Oxfam
- InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Announces Transaction in Own Shares - December 23
- Melrose Group Publicly Files Complaint to the Ontario Securities Commission
- Langers edge Tiger and son Charlie in PNC Championship playoff
- Explosive batsman Jacobs gets New Zealand call-up for Sri Lanka series
- Holders PSG edge through on penalties in French Cup
- Slovak PM Fico on surprise visit to Kremlin to talk gas deliveries
- Daniels throw five TDs as Commanders down Eagles
- Atalanta fight back to take top spot in Serie A, Roma hit five
- Mancini admits regrets over leaving Italy for Saudi Arabia
- Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa
- Slovak PM Fico on surprise visit to Kremlin
- Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 35
- 'Incredible' Liverpool must stay focused: Slot
- Maresca 'absolutely happy' as title-chasing Chelsea drop points in Everton draw
- Salah happy wherever career ends after inspiring Liverpool rout
- Three and easy as Dortmund move into Bundesliga top six
- Liverpool hit Spurs for six, Man Utd embarrassed by Bournemouth
- Netanyahu vows to act with 'force, determination' against Yemen's Huthis
- Mbappe back from 'bottom' as Real Madrid down Sevilla
- Ali hat-trick helps champions Ahly crush Belouizdad
- France kept on tenterhooks over new government
- Salah stars as rampant Liverpool hit Spurs for six
- Syria's new leader says all weapons to come under 'state control'
- 'Sonic 3' zips to top of N.America box office
- Rome's Trevi Fountain reopens to limited crowds
- Mbappe strikes as Real Madrid down Sevilla
- 'Nervous' Man Utd humiliated by Bournemouth
- Pope again condemns 'cruelty' of Israeli strikes on Gaza
- Lonely this Christmas: Vendee skippers in low-key celebrations on high seas
- Troubled Man Utd humiliated by Bournemouth
- 2 US pilots shot down over Red Sea in 'friendly fire' incident: military
- Man Utd embarrassed by Bournemouth, Chelsea held at Everton
- France awaits fourth government of the year
- Germany pledges security inquest into Christmas market attack
- Death toll in Brazil bus crash rises to 41
In UK 'rhubarb triangle', spring arrives in January
Robert Tomlinson picks rhubarb stalks by candlelight in the dark, carrying on a century-old family tradition that survives today despite the challenges posed to his business by Brexit and climate change.
For four generations, Tomlinson's family have been cultivating "forced rhubarb" in the winter months at their farm in Pudsey, northern England, and are profiting from a resurgence in the plant's popularity.
Hundreds of bright pink stems of the "Harbinger" variety reach for the ceiling after they were brought into sheds from fields to be finished off indoors.
The temperature is kept heated to around 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit), and it is almost completely dark.
With this mildness in the air, "we are tricking them into thinking it is spring", Tomlinson, 41, said as he walked around his plants, which benefit from a government-protected designation of origin.
In the absence of stronger light, the plants cannot produce chlorophyll and sugar grows in the stalk rather than the leaf, "so you get a far more tender, sweeter stick than you do in summer with outdoor rhubarb".
The stems can therefore be harvested in winter, when few fresh fruit and vegetables are produced in Britain, and command a higher price than free-range rhubarb, which is typically picked from May.
"You can hear them growing, it makes just like a pop," says Tomlinson, whose farm lies in a part of Yorkshire known as Britain's "rhubarb triangle" because of its concentration of growers.
His great-grandfather started growing the plant, which originated in Asia and Russia, in the late 1880s. Until the 1960s, its tangy taste was popular in Britain.
- Duck a la rhubarb -
But rhubarb then fell out of fashion and many growers gave up. Today there are only 10 left in Yorkshire, according to Tomlinson, down from a peak of more than 200.
In recent years, however, chefs have embraced rhubarb with relish.
They include Tom Cenci of the 26 Grains group, which manages two high-end restaurants in London which use mostly British produce.
"The recipes are endless," he said, before sauteing a few pieces of forced rhubarb in orange juice, adding sugar and a little ginger.
Forced rhubarb grown indoors "has a slightly sweeter taste", and outdoor rhubarb can be more "stringy". Cenci recommends pairing it with fish or duck.
Forced rhubarb is also used in drinks, from flavoured soda to gin, sparkling wine and syrups.
Tomlinson says the wide array of uses has helped him weather the closure of UK restaurants during successive pandemic lockdowns.
Foreign demand has also helped, from restaurants and hotels in Paris, Berlin, Zurich and even New York, he said.
- ' Rising costs' -
But owing to new customs checks since Britain left the EU's single market, "it is far more expensive to send it to Europe now".
And like other British farmers, the rhubarb grower is struggling with labour shortages.
"Costs have gone up. There are so many jobs out there that pay a lot more money," Tomlinson said.
His wife Paula assists, as do his children aged 13 and 14 on weekends.
Milder weather brought about by climate change is another headwind.
The plants need a period of cold in the autumn "to re-energise before we fetch them in the sheds" for indoor harvesting.
"The way in which we are growing is almost identical as it was back then because there is no other way to do it.
"So, I will go on picking by candlelight, by hand," the farmer said. "There are no machines to do it."
S.F.Warren--AMWN