Our rhubarb has suffered a bit this year, not enough rain has meant it's produced less stems than usual and those that have appeared are now rather on the tough side. This recipe is a great way of using up tough old stems, and makes a good fruity alternative to the ever present tomato ketchup.

Historically ketchup has it's roots in a Chinese fish based sauce, which gained popularity with 17th century western travellers. The tomato based sauce did not appear until the early 19th century when an early recipe states that 'One hundred tomatoes will make four or five bottles and keep good for two or three years'.