Yorkshire Rhubarb Meets the Fashion House of Hermès Paris

 

Growing up in Leeds, West Yorkshire, the heart of “The Rhubarb Triangle” (Nine square miles between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell, originally much larger, covering nearly thirty square miles, including Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield, when at its peak in 1939) how could I not adore rhubarb?

I was raised on these juicy, pink, bittersweet sticks!

My grandmother, Lily, had a massive rhubarb patch in her English country garden, when we were but nippers, it was taller than us.

 

 

What fun we had, parading under the old apple tree, a stick of rhubarb with its enormous frilly leaf, masquerading as an umbrella.

How delicious the crumbles, and, of course, rhubarb and custard, chopped rhubarb stewed to a stringy pulp, served with acid-yellow Bird’s custard.

Unfortunate, or should I say lazy people, used the insipid tinned variety, goodness knows why, this was West Yorkshire; we were surrounded by the stuff!

 

 

There was even rhubarb wine, Lily was an avid wine-maker, potato, elderberry, blackberry, rhubarb, you name it, and she made it.

 

 

You may be wondering where the prestigious, French house of  Hermès comes into the story.

 Think Hermès; and then think rhubarb; fields fertilized with aromatic horse manure, or mungo and shoddy (waste from the wool mills).

 

 

Think of Low rhubarb sheds, heated by coal in winter, and later, by diesel fuel, and the rhubarb harvest, picked by candlelight, (Exposure to strong sunlight; rare in West Yorkshire, halted all growth).

 

 

Where on Earth is the connection between The House of Hermès  and good old Yorkshire rhubarb?

 

 

Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather, or, as we say in Yorkshire, when confronted by something astonishing; “I’ll go t’foot of our stairs”, when I came across a rhubarb scent!

 

 

 

Yes, really, rhubarb scent, not any old rhubarb scent, but a scent created by the famous “Noses” of the House of Hermès, Paris.

 

 

The blurb on their website says;

“I’ve always loved the duality of rhubarb. A double duality: visual and olfactory. The green colour metamorphoses into red. Starting acidic and crisp, its smell becomes smooth and velvety.” Christine Nagel

With Hermes Eau de rhubarbe ecarlate, Christine Nagel has created her first Cologne for Hermès. Unprecedented and bold, more vegetal than citrus, it gives us the crisp, acidic freshness of rhubarb made velvet smooth with white musks.

I have to wonder, has Mr. Hermès ever visited the rhubarb triangle of West Yorkshire?

Does he realize just what he is associating himself with?

 

 

There’s something just a bit comical about rhubarb, okra, or, lady’s finger’s, bamias in Greek, have the same connotation, a suggestion of ridiculousness, it’s quite common to hear Greek children calling each other “Bamia”, in place of stupid or idiot!

Rhubarb is something I would never mention in the same breath as Hermès.

 

 

I have spotted though, rhubarb creme brulee, and rhubarb macarons with custard buttercream and roasted rhubarb, how posh is that?

 

 

Rhubarb seems to be on its way up the social ladder.

So you never know, Mr. Hermès, may be way ahead in his thinking!

Eau de rhubarb, goodness, even the name makes me laugh,  was launched earlier this year, 2016, so, it’s early days yet, but, I’m very curious to see if it will be popular!

From the chic French salons of Paris, to a wild, windy and wet West Yorkshire, Hermès and Rhubarb are light years apart, or are they?

 

 

Time will tell.

Anyway, as I have been living in hot, sunny Greece for the past thirty odd years, I can’t remember the last time I ate rhubarb, which needs a cold, wet climate to thrive, West Yorkshire is perfect!

 

 

I often think of rhubarb, I can hardly remember the taste, it’s been so long, oh, and how I adored it.

All my problems are solved, I shall purchase a bottle of Eau de rhubarb, douse myself in it, the memories are bound to come flooding back!

 

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