Rhubarb

Only the stalks are eaten; the leaves are not, and they are trimmed off and discarded. Rhubarb arrives in spring, which earned it the old name pie plant. Raw it is very sour, so it is almost always cooked with plenty of sugar and often paired with strawberries.

Rhubarb releases a lot of juice and breaks down quickly as it cooks. Pie fillings need a generous amount of thickener, and cutting the stalks into even pieces helps them soften at the same rate. Red stalks give a rosier color but taste about the same as green ones.