Pucker up — it’s rhubarb season.

Plenty of people claim to not like rhubarb, but most of them have never even tried it, scared off by its tart reputation.

But mixed with the right amount of sugar, this spring crop will turn your pucker into a smile.

“A lot of people just don’t know what to do with it,” said Jill Wolf, a teacher at the Western Reserve School of Cooking in Hudson, Ohio, and pastry chef at Luxe Restaurant in Cleveland.

Wolf teaches classes on rhubarb, showing how this versatile vegetable can be the start of so many desserts.

With rhubarb, it’s the pretty red stalks that you want. The leaves, which contain oxalate, can actually act as a poison and cause serious illness; they should not be eaten.

 Harold Blachly, a Stark County rhubarb grower, said rhubarb actually comes in red and green varieties, but he finds that most people aren’t interested in the green. It’s the signature red color that cooks expect from their rhubarb, he said.

Blachly, 62, had been growing and eating rhubarb all of his life. He devotes about one-third of an acre of his Canton Township, Ohio, property to rhubarb and grows enough to supply all of the Canton, Ohio-area Fisher Foods stores, plus more that he takes to the produce auction in Mount Hope, Ohio.

The retired machinist started his patch with just five clumps of plants, which he divided and redivided. Each leaf can turn into a new plant and it is easy to propagate, Blachly said, even for backyard gardeners. “Water, fertilizer and sunshine are all it needs,” he said.

“Most of the kids never tried it, but they say they don’t like it. Now that doesn’t make a lick of sense,” Blachly said, noting how rhubarb isn’t nearly as popular as it once was.

Wolf, who grew up in Maumee outside of Toledo, agreed. She said there was a time when most families had some rhubarb growing in their back yards. Rhubarb sauce was as expected a dish on the table as applesauce, she said.

While rhubarb must be sweetened to make it palatable, Wolf said if it is not over-sweetened, it can make a good sauce for meats, much like the sweet-tart flavor of cranberry sauce.

Rhubarb is best known for its use in desserts — rhubarb or strawberry-rhubarb pies are classic American fare.

Mixing this tart vegetable with fruit, particularly berries, makes a good combination for crumbles, cobblers and cakes.

Orange zest also is good for pairing with rhubarb to bring out its flavor. Much like tart lemon, Wolf likes to make a rhubarb sorbet to serve between courses as a palate cleanser.

Wolf said she has even seen dessert pizzas topped with rhubarb sauce. “It’s kind of a fun thing to use and people don’t use it as much as they should,” she said.

If cooking or baking with rhubarb for the first time, Wolf recommends sticking close to the recipe until you determine how well you like the taste. Some cooks have a tendency to over-sweeten it, she said.

For flavoring, cinnamon and nutmeg work well, along with orange peel.

When making a sauce for meats, Wolf said less sugar would be required, or even an alternative sweetener such as agave nectar.

Blachly said rhubarb will grow all summer long, but he believes the first spring crop is always the best.

Because rhubarb is in season now, here are some recipes to try it out in, including two sauces — a sweet one to be eaten like applesauce, and a less-sweet compote with orange and sage that is perfect for serving with grilled or roasted meats.

RHUBARB SAUCE

 4 cups chopped rhubarb

 2 cups sugar

 pinch of salt

 1 tsp. vanilla extract

 Put chopped rhubarb in a saucepan with a small amount of water (approximately 1/4 to 1/2 cup), the sugar, vanilla and pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until rhubarb is soft, about 15 minutes. Cool.

 Serve as a side dish like applesauce, or serve warm over ice cream or as a jam on biscuits.

 Makes about 4 cups.

 —Jill Wolf

RHUBARB SORBET

 12 thick stalks rhubarb

 2 cups water

 1 1/2 cups sugar

 1 cup raspberries to intensify red color and balance sourness

 1/4 cup vodka, if desired

 Wash rhubarb, trim ends. Roughly chop rhubarb and put into a 4-quart saucepan with water, sugar, and raspberries. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer mixture until rhubarb is very soft. Cool, then place mixture in blender or food processor, puree in batches.

 Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove fiber and seeds. Taste, adjust with more sugar if needed. Add vodka, if using, this helps frozen sorbet to be somewhat softer and easier to scoop. Chill sorbet mixture overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

 Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

 —Jill Wolf

 RHUBARB CREAM PIE

 1 1/2 cups sugar

 3 tbsp. flour

 3/4 tsp. nutmeg

 1 tbsp. butter

 2 eggs, well-beaten

 3 cups cut up rhubarb, mixed with a little flour pastry for double 9-inch pie crust

 Blend sugar, flour, nutmeg and butter.

 Add eggs to mixture and beat until smooth. Add rhubarb and gently stir in.

 Pour into 9-inch pastry-lined pie pan. Top with pastry and seal edges together, cut slits in top crust for steam to escape.

 Brush lightly with cream and sprinkle with sugar.

 Bake for 10 minutes in 450-degree oven, lower temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

 Makes 1 pie.

 Note: Field-grown rhubarb is preferred over hot-house varieties for a more pronounced taste.

 —Jill Wolf

 RHUBARB-ORANGE COMPOTE

 2 cups chopped rhubarb juice and zest of 1 orange 1 tsp. dried sage 1/3 cup sugar 1 tsp. grated ginger pinch of salt

 In a medium saucepan, combine the rhubarb, orange zest and juice, sage, sugar, ginger and salt. Cook over medium heat until the rhubarb falls apart.

 Serve with roasted turkey, pork, or chicken.

 —Adapted from Grocery Gardening, Planting, Preparing and Preserving Fresh Food, Jean Ann Van Krevelen

Grow your own weed … and make a delicious pie

Don’t think you can grow your own rhubarb?

Keep repeating to yourself, “It’s a weed. I can grow a weed.”

That’s the word from Tori Lee Jackson, Extension educator for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Lisbon Falls. Jackson said it’s not hard to grow this weed — a member of the buckwheat family — if you follow some simple rules: Put it in well-drained soil and give it as much sun as possible.

According to Molly Katzen, renown Moosewood author, “The English ‘rhubarb’ is a derivative of the Latin phrase ‘rha barbarum,’ which refers to a region near the Volga River (in Russia) where the barbarians lived.”

Rhubarb has an interesting history within food circles. It wasn’t “discovered” as edible in this country until about 200 years ago, and then spent about 100 years with a spotty reputation because some people were eating the leaves, which are poisonous. Once word finally got around on the right way to enjoy this vegetable — only eat the stalks — it became universally popular, with the Northeast really taking to it.

If you’re thinking of growing your own, Jackson recommends getting small plants from your area greenhouse or, if you have access to someone’s rhubard plant, divide the plant early in the spring, while it’s still dormant, and replant. She doesn’t recommend trying to grow it from seed.

And when you have finally grown some sour stalks of your own — or have bought some from your local store or market — Jackson has a recipe for her favorite pie, which just might become your favorite pie. She credits her mom, Debbi Jackson of Monmouth, for this simple delight.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

Use your favorite crust recipe or purchase a pre-made crust

4 cups sliced, local strawberries

2 cups diced rhubarb

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss strawberries and rhubarb with sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt and let sit for 20 minutes. Pour fruit mixture into crust. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust, sealing edges with water. Cut a few ventilation hole in the top. Place pie pan on cookie sheet to catch any juice that boils out. Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes.

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