Ingredient: Cucumbers
Category: Vegetables
Season: All
The cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon.
Taste
There appears to be variability in the human old factory response to cucumbers, with the majority of people reporting a mild, almost watery flavour or a light melon taste, while a small but vocal minority report a highly repugnant taste, some say almost perfume like.
This likely has a genetic basis analogous to the bitter taste, phenylthiocarbamide
Pickling
Cucumbers can be pickled for flavour and longer shelf life.
As compared to eating cucumbers, pickling cucumbers tend to be shorter, thicker, less regularly-shaped, and have bumpy skin with tiny white- or black-dotted spines.
They are never waxed.
Colour can vary from creamy yellow to pale or dark green.
Pickling cucumbers are sometimes sold fresh as “Kirby” or “Liberty” cucumbers.
The pickling process removes or degrades much of the nutrient content, especially that of vitamin C.
Pickled cucumbers are soaked in vinegar or brine or a combination, often along with various spices.
Varieties
English cucumbers can grow as long as 2 feet (0.61 m).
They are nearly seedless, have a delicate skin which is pleasant to eat, and are sometimes marketed as “Burpless”, because the seeds and skin of other varieties of cucumbers can give some people gas.
Japanese cucumbers
Are mild, slender, deep green, and have a bumpy, ridged skin. They can be used for slicing, salads, pickling, etc., and are available year-round.
Mediterranean cucumbers
Are small, smooth-skinned and mild. Like the English cucumber, Mediterranean cucumbers are nearly seedless.
Slicers grown commercially for the North American market
Are generally longer, smoother, more uniform in colour, and have a much tougher skin.
Slicers in other countries are smaller and have a thinner, more delicate skin.
In North America
The term “wild cucumber” refers to man root.
Dosakai is a yellow cucumber available in parts of India.
These vegetables are generally round in shape. It is commonly added in Sambar/Soup, Daal and also in making Dosa-Aavakaaya(Indian Pickle) and Chutney.
English home-grown cucumbers
Do have the best flavour and it’s difficult to find a well-flavoured imported cucumber in the winter.
For the best results, and if you have time, salting, as you would an aubergine, does draw out some of the excess water content and helps concentrate the flavour.
What about the seeds? No problem. These are part and parcel of the cucumber, so I never bother to remove them.
To peel or not to peel.
Some say not, because they like the colour, texture and flavour of the peel.
If the cucumber has a very tough skin, use a potato peeler, so only the outer skin is pared off.
It’s also possible to just pare off strips of skin, a kind of halfway house.
The exception is small, ridged cucumbers, which sometimes have quite knobbly skins and are usually best peeled.
|