This fruit shrub will remind you of a fresh-baked rhubarb pie and the leftover compote is a delectable bonus—you can eat and drink your fill of rhubarb and spices! 

Makes 2 ½ cups of Shrub (makes 12 drinks—2 ounce each)

Makes about 1 cup of Compote (4 servings)

2          generous cups fresh diced rhubarb

3/4      cup granulated white sugar

1  whole cinnamon stick

5  slices of crystalized ginger

1          cup bottled water

1          cup unfiltered apple cider vinegar such as Bragg

Place the cut rhubarb, sugar, cinnamon stick, ginger and water in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Turn the heat on high and place a lid on the pan.  Bring the water, rhubarb and sugar mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and continue to simmer with the lid on until the fruit looks like it has dissolved.  It will be completely soft and in strands instead of pieces, 8-10 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.  Pour the fruit and the liquid through a small colander or mesh strainer. Let the liquid drain into a bowl. You may have to do this in stages as the solids collect.  Press down on the fruit to extract as much juice as possible without pressing too hard, as you don’t want to get any solids into the shrub. In fact, don’t scrap the solids that collect on the bottom of the colander or strainer because those will make the shrub cloudy. 

Note: Don’t throw the fruit away, the resulting cooked rhubarb, cinnamon stick and ginger is the most delicious fruit compote and is good on toast, pound cake or served over vanilla ice cream.  It’s a pity that you only get about a cup!

Once all the juice has been drained, add the vinegar through a fine steel strainer to the rhubarb syrup.  Pour into a glass jar for storage, and transfer the rhubarb solids to another jar.

Refrigerate both until ready to use. 

The shrub can be kept for several months in the refrigerator and the rhubarb “compote” will last a week.

Rhubarb Shrub Refresher: Non-alcoholic.  Mix 2 ounces of the shrub with 6 ounces of sparkling water and serve over crushed ice.

Booker’s “Backyard BBQ” Cocktail: Alcoholic.  Mix 1 ounce of the shrub with 2 ounces of Booker’s and a dash of bitters in a cocktail shaker.  Shake until well chilled and serve straight up or pour over a glass of crushed ice and finish with sparkling water.

©ELIZABETH KARMEL 2019