Some ingredients are simply discovered.
Others quietly become part of your life.
That’s exactly what happened with rhubarb.
I first fell in love with it while living in England.
Every spring it would appear in markets, bakeries and family kitchens as though it had always belonged there.
Its flavour stayed with me.
Bright.
Tangy.
Elegant in its simplicity.
Unlike anything I’d tasted before.
Years later, when we opened our bakery in Spain, I simply couldn’t imagine spring without it.
So every year, as soon as rhubarb came into season, I’d drive across the French border to Perpignan and fill the car with fresh stalks.
Back at the bakery we’d cook huge batches of compote that would last us for months.
That compote became the heart of one of Milola’s most loved Coca de Sant Joan recipes — the traditional sweet bread that marks the arrival of summer across Catalonia.
Families came back for it year after year.
For many of them, it simply wasn’t Sant Joan without it.
While rhubarb has been part of Northern European baking for centuries, it’s still surprisingly uncommon in Spain.
Fortunately, it’s becoming easier to find through specialist greengrocers and online suppliers.
Nosotros solemos comprarlo en Fruites i Verdures Giró, en el Mercat de Sant Antoni.
If you’ve never cooked with rhubarb before, this is a wonderful place to begin.
And if you can, make a little extra.
You’ll thank yourself when we use it in another very special recipe.
Although this compote became famous in our bakery thanks to our Coca de Sant Joan, it quickly found its way into countless other recipes.
We love serving it with:
Its balance of sweetness, gentle acidity and floral notes makes it one of those preparations you’ll always be happy to find waiting in the fridge.
Ingredients:
Method:
1. Prepare the rhubarb
Wash the rhubarb thoroughly and trim both ends.
If the stalks are particularly thick, slice them lengthwise
before cutting them into roughly 2 cm pieces.
Set aside about 200 g and place the rest in a heavy-based saucepan.
2. The first cook
Add the sugar and dried hibiscus flowers.
The hibiscus deepens the colour beautifully while adding delicate floral notes that complement rhubarb’s natural tartness.
Stir gently.
Cover the pan and cook over a low heat for around 15 minutes, until the rhubarb begins releasing its juices.
3. Build the texture
Remove the lid and increase the heat slightly.
Add the reserved rhubarb pieces.
This keeps part of the fruit intact, giving the finished compote a far more interesting texture.
Continue cooking for another 15 minutes.
It’s ready when you can draw your finger across the back of a spoon and the line stays clean.
4. Cool
Transfer the compote to a large bowl.
Once cool, remove the hibiscus flowers.
It’s ready to enjoy.
The compote keeps beautifully in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days.
It also freezes exceptionally well. In fact, that’s exactly what we used to do every spring so we could enjoy rhubarb long after the season had finished.
We have a soft spot for ingredients that still manage to surprise people.
Rhubarb is one of them.
It doesn’t try to taste like strawberries.
Or apples.
Or plums.
It has a character entirely its own.
Perhaps that’s why it pairs so effortlessly with vanilla, citrus, strawberries, chocolate and hibiscus.
If you’ve never cooked with rhubarb before, we hope this recipe marks the beginning of a long friendship.
Because some recipes belong to a season.
Others stay with you for life.
You can watch a video of the recipe step by step here.
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Hola, soy Manuela Saavedra, fundadora de Milola Gluten Free. Estoy encantada de darte la bienvenida a este espacio dedicado a todos los apasionados de la cocina que, como yo, buscan una alimentación más saludable y natural.
