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It's rhubarb season. Rhubarb is IMPORTANT. You need to know how to make stewed rhubarb, because (a) it's lovely (b) it's simple, BUT (c) there are some basic mistakes that people make. Here's my expert guide. Come with me!

The key things you need to know are:

1. Don't add too much water, because otherwise you'll need to over-cook it to reduce it down again. (You'll be shocked at how much liquid magically appears in the pan!)
2. Don't stir it much at all (and don't chop it too small) -- so that the end result has nice texture, and doesn't turn to pure mush.
3. Add a small amount of cornflour to the rhubarb, right at the start. This is chemistry: the alkaline cornflour helps to prevent the rhubarb from oxidising, and thus keeps it a jolly red colour.

Oh, and if you're wondering about tips for buying rhubarb - well, you don't want it floppy, and the redder the better, though it's OK to have some green. Fat or thin doesn't make much difference. And of course, buying it in season is best. There are two rhubarb seasons in my part of the world, late winter and early summer.

Stewed rhubarb is simple. Here's how:

• 100g rhubarb per person
• 25g sugar per person (adjust the quantity to taste)
• 1/2 to 1 tsp cornflour per person
• 2 tsp water

Rinse the rhubarb sticks under the tap. No need to dry them, in fact it's good that they're wet.

Chop them into 2cm or 1-inch pieces. DON'T cut them too small! I've seen people cut them much smaller - the problem is then that all the structure disappears into mush when you cook them. Don't worry - 2cm might seem too big, but these will quickly turn into soft and jammy nothings.

Place the rhubarb in a pan that has a lid. Add about 2 teaspoons of water. I mean it! Really only that tiny amount of water. Here's the key: the water on the outside of the rhubarb is already helping, plus a LOT of liquid will come out of the rhubarb as it cooks. The only role for this added water is to become steam at the start of the process, helping to get everything going.

Sprinkle the cornflour over the rhubarb. Then sprinkle the sugar over. (You can keep some of the sugar back, if you're not sure how sweet you want it.) No need to stir! Really!

Put the pan on a medium-low heat, and put the lid on. Leave this to cook gently for about 20 minutes. Pretty quickly there will be some steam in the pan (from that small amount of water), and this will warm up the rhubarb and encourage all the juices out.

DON'T STIR THE RHUBARB at any point. I know it seems strange. But the less you mess with it, the more of the "structure" of the rhubarb is still there, it doesn't turn to textureless mush. It will still become very soft throughout, and the cornflour and sugar will naturally mix through, thanks to convection etc.

After the 20 minutes are done, you can take the lid off, and give it one exploratory stir to find out if you need to cook it down a bit more. You can also check the balance of sweet-versus-tart and add more sugar if needed. The rhubarb might be ready at this point, or you might want to cook it 5 minutes with the lid off to thicken it more.

Serve this as dessert either with plain yogurt or with custard. There are various other things you can do with it too (e.g. rhubarb crumble), but even if you serve it simply, it's great.