Ingebretsen's Nordic Marketplace

June is the month of Iceland’s National Day (June 17), weddings, and rhubarb. In honor of all three, this month’s recipe is Icelandic Happy Marriage Cake. The Happy Marriage Cake can be summarized as a double-crust rhubarb crisp. That means it’s simple to make, delicious, a bit on the carb-heavy side, and great when shared with a loved one and a cup of coffee. The recipe is also really, really forgiving, so view it as a guideline and feel free to improvise where you will.

Rhubarb’s colorful history

And now, before we launch into the recipe, a few words in appreciation of rhubarb. When we look at this hardy, ubiquitous plant growing alongside garages throughout the Midwest, we think about pies, not caravan serais. However, it was camel caravans, silk merchants, trade centers like Ulaanbaatar and Constantinople, and herbalists in search of better medicines that brought rhubarb from its home in Siberia to Minnesota. Oh, Carl Linnaeus and Benjamin Franklin played vital roles, too.

If rhubarb were a guest on “Finding Your Roots,” it would be gasping each time Henry Louis Gates, Jr. asked it to turn the page.  

The plant was prized in Chinese medicine, beginning in the Han period, 206 BC. Chinese physicians believed it cleansed the blood and purified the system. By the 10^th century, dried, powdered rhubarb was a hot commodity on the Silk Road trade route. It commanded exorbitant prices each time it exchanged hands along the thousands of miles between China and Greece, Rome, and Iran, where the demand was the highest.

A bit like Enron stock

Its growing reputation as a cure-all made rhubarb powder as valuable as saffron, which still sells for roughly $70 to $200 an ounce for the real stuff. For those of you eyeing your rhubarb patch as a way to make the mortgage – sorry, the bottom fell out of that market centuries ago. Blame savvy merchants and herbalists who began growing the plant themselves. The Kashmir region of Pakistan, with its cool mountain areas, became a rich source of rhubarb. People there incorporated the stems into their food as well as powdering the dried plant. More growers in more regions naturalized rhubarb, bringing down the price and making it accessible to all.

Linnaeus’ proudest achievement

Carl Linnaeus (1707 to 1778) is remembered for creating a taxonomical system for the natural world. Scientists now had uniform names for plants and animals and the his system is still in use today. He was also a Swede who fiercely loved his country and wanted it to be as self-sufficient as possible. He tried growing tea plants so Swedes wouldn’t enrich other countries in their search of a cuppa. He tried domesticating an elk and training it to pull a plow so horses, who have trouble navigating rocky soil and steep hills, wouldn’t be needed. He also introduced rhubarb to Sweden, an act he called his greatest achievement. Swedes responded to his gift with whole-hearted acceptance. They grew rhubarb and created sweet, savory, and medicinal recipes.

This is where Benjamin Franklin makes an appearance

When Swedish immigrants came to America, they found a familiar plant thriving here. Benjamin Franklin obtained “real Siberian rhubarb seeds” while in England. He mailed the seeds to Quaker botanist John Bartram. Bartram, like Linnaeus, was interested in all things botanical and wanted to make rhubarb readily accessible. He grew the seeds, along with other varieties of rhubarb he had obtained. Bartram developed robust strains that he then sold to fellow colonists, settlers from the former New Sweden Colony and to English gardeners. And now the story comes full circle: Swedish botanists, including Carl Linnaeus, took notice. In 1769, they invited Bartram, a non-Swede, to become a member of Sweden’s Royal Academy of Sciences. Rhubarb not only cleansed the blood, it brought honors and prestige. That’s a family story of which rhubarb can be proud. 

Bring honors and prestige upon yourself

A few quick notes on the recipe: The filling is essentially a compote. Therefore, it is ideal for rhubarb that isn’t photogenic or isn’t at its fresh-picked best. Add any fruits you think would be good. I found this recipe a great way to use up a smidgen of strawberry jam that was in the fridge. As you cook the rhubarb, you may want to add water. Or orange liqueur. The proportions given in the recipe are a starting point. Make more if you wish, just add a few minutes of in the oven so the crust becomes firm.

Now, make everyone happy, whether married or not, and bake.