Hello,

I'm hoping that you could tell me :

I have heard / read tantalizing bits about rhubarb flowerpouches ( before
the flowers open )
are supposed to be a delicacy.

Do you know when to harvest / how to prepare / how to cook them ?

I'd be delighted if you could let me know .

* * * *

I didn't know about the oxalic acid (or even that the flowers were edible).

I looked up oxalic acid.

I don't think I'll try eating the flowers!

Thank you for the warning!

* * * *

Of course, Rhubarb is always rather acidic. To neutralize the ( oxalic ) acid, I allways cook it with a knife-tip of chalk. Saves up on the sugar you need too. Sugar masks the taste but not the effect of the acid, chalk does.But the flowerbuds should be no more acidic than the stalks, and should theoretically be equally edible. A delicacy, it's reported. But has anyone ever tried them ? If they are so good, and we all break them out anyway, it's a pity to throw them away.

My husbands gran was a great rhubarb fan who ate lots and lots of rhubarb ( rhubarb warm mash, rhubarb jam, rhubarb preserve, rhubarb tart, ... ) and lived to a very ripe old age without any kidneyproblems, but ahe always cooked rhubarb with a teaspoon of chalk.It was standard practice in those days I think. A rather forgotten wisdom, few people nowadays do it.
Kidney stones can form if oxalic acid meets calcium in your blood, and settles there into particles.
The whole point of cooking rhubarb with a little chalk ( calcium ) is to make sure that proces happens in your pan. Because of the cooking-motion you dont get big lumps, the particles stay very very small, and pass through your digestive system without ever getting into your blood. And because the acid is neutralised before you eat it, you also avoid having stomach problems.