These quenching vegetablesΓÇöabout 96 percent waterΓÇöare cucurbitas, part of a huge family that includes squashes. They may be field or hothouse grown, long and slender or stubby or round, and nearly seedless or filled with seeds. We eat them when they are green and immature. The round lemon cucumber, however, we eat when mature and pale yellow. Pickling cucumbers, by contrast, have thick skins and have been bred to keep their crispness and to absorb liquid especially well. Small gherkins and cornichons are just pickling cucumbers bred to taste good when picked at the baby stage. West Indian gherkins, however, are a different subspecies; sometimes called prickly fruited gherkins, they are olive shaped and covered with soft spines, and they make excellent pickles. CucumbersΓÇÖ season is summer and early autumn, although they are nearly always in the market. Because slicing cucumbers are very often waxed, you may have to peel the skin. Select only cucumbers that are a rich green and completely sound and firmΓÇöno soft spots, bruises, cuts, or withered places. Lemon cucumbers should be about 2 inches in diameter with yellow-green skin. Usually the smallest cucumbers will be the least mature and therefore will have the smallest seeds. Store in perforated plastic vegetable bags in the refrigerator crisper.
To Prepare: If you leave the skin on, an attractive finish for slicing is to run a salad fork down the length of the cucumber all around. Although the seeds are tender and a source of fiber, you may wish to remove them. Halve the cucumber lengthwise and scrape them out with the tip of a spoon. If a sample of the cucumber tastes bitter, cut off the ends and peel it. Sprinkle cider vinegar all over it, then add a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar. Let stand for up to 30 minutes, then rinse well. Europeans enjoy cooked cucumbers much more often than we do. The texture and flavor of a cooked cucumber is tender and mild. Cook cucumbers as you would zucchini, remembering that the flesh is considerably more watery.
Cucumbers go well with sour cream, yogurt, raw onions, and fresh tomatoes, and they are particularly delicious flavored with lemon, vinegar, soy sauce, dill, chervil, cumin, basil, parsley, tarragon, oregano, mint, lemon grass, garlic, and toasted sesame seeds. Allow 1/2 medium cucumber per serving.
