How to turn limp rhubarb into tasty jam – recipe

Rachel de Thample is one of my food heroines. She’s the author of six books and course director of the College of Naturopathic Medicine’s natural chef diploma, and has also been head of food for Abel & Cole and commissioning editor of Waitrose Food Illustrated, among so much else.

She trained with the likes of Marco Pierre White, Heston Blumenthal and Peter Gordon, and now teaches fermentation and gut health at River Cottage HQ, where I cut my own teeth in teaching eco-gastronomy more than 20 years ago. It’s essential to use raw honey for fermenting, because it is naturally acidic (low pH) and contains wild yeasts, beneficial microbes and active enzymes that help create a healthy fermentation environment once diluted.

Pasteurised honey, on the other hand, is heat-treated to slow crystallisation, which also destroys many of the naturally occurring yeasts, beneficial bacteria and enzymes needed for fermentation. This funky ferment is a rather sophisticated way to enjoy rhubarb.

rhubarb, jam, fermentation, raw honey, pasteurised honey, wild yeasts, enzymes, gut health, river cottage, heston blumenthal