LOOK up rhubarb in any gardening book and you will usually find it classified as a vegetable, yet it's normally cooked as a fruit and served as a pudding. Because it's so tart, it goes particularly well with meats, such as pork or duck, which call for a sharp sauce to bring out the flavour. With this recipe, I've decided to use it as a vegetable and serve it with a pan-fried pork fillet. This long thin cylindrical cut which is usually about 6-8 cm in diameter is considered the most prized cut of pork and, as a consequence, it isn't cheap. However, it's both tender and delicious.

To serve two, you will need: One pork fillet 3 large sticks rhubarb One wine glass filled with half grenadine half water 3 cloves garlic sliced into 4 Oil to fry pork fillet Flour to dust pork fillet Half tspn vegetable bouillon powder 4 sage leaves - and more to garnish Salt and freshly ground black peppercorns to season Method: Cut each stick of rhubarb into four and divide each quarter into four longways to produce small sticks Place rhubarb into a shallow dish with the water and grenadine, mix and allow to marinate for at least an hour, then place liquid and rhubarb into small frying pan with a lid and allow to simmer over a medium heat until cooked, but not too soft or it will break up While the rhubarb is cooking dust the pork fillet with seasoned flour and using a cocktail stick to secure the two ends together, bend it into a ring.

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a frying pan large enough to cook the fillet When the oil is good and hot, carefully place the pork fillet into the pan, making sure the ends are securely fixed together, reduce the heat a little and fry both sides until brown - should take about ten minutes to be fully cooked, adding the slithers of garlic just before its done.

Carefully remove pork fillet from the pan, take out the cocktail sticks, cover meat with a clean cloth and allow to rest The rhubarb should be ready by now, spoon it out on to a spare plate and keep warm, and gently pour the juices into the frying pan in which you had fried the pork Add the sage leaves and vegetable bouillon powder and bring the liquid to a hard boil without a lid to reduce by about a third Adjust seasoning, remove the sage leaves Assemble the dish by placing rhubarb on the serving dish and topping it with the pork fillet, then pour over the sauce complete with slithers of garlic and serve garnished with fresh sage Should you wish, you can slice the fillet into medallions and arrange them round the rhubarb, but I prefer to carve it at table.