Leave it to the Italians to have a word to describe the act of gorging oneself on the local ingredients currently in season:
scorpacciata
Say it with me...
scor-pac-cià-ta
Now get on it, because these ruby rhizomes, for instance, with a tartness that behooves both sweet and savory, won't last forever.
Try dipping the stalks in sugar and licking and gnawing on them raw--like Fun-Dip before we knew any better.
You can aim to capture the fugitives too.
Make a rhubarb simple syrup for cocktails or iced tea.
Or a rhubarb honey-ginger compote to bedeck everything from pound cake to pork belly.
Both should outlast the season by weeks--depending on self-government.
Of course, denying rhubarb of its mostly companion--the equally ephemeral strawberry--hardly seems right, so pop by tomorrow morning for a page out of that annual love story.
In the meantime, you've got...artichokes, asparagus, endive, fava beans, fennel, fiddlehead ferns, green garlic, morels, peas, ramps, spring lettuces, spring onions, swiss chard, and watercress...all to devour against the clock.
Mangia! Mangia!