"There is little point in taking the trouble to grow our own vegetables unless we can find an adequate technique to get to the heart of the ingredient. " Nigel Slater
'Cooking cucumber' was written in my Ideas list. I have no idea now where it came from but it was relatively recent. I know I have been vaguely thinking of growing cucumbers again, because I had moderate success the last time I tried, but I don't think that was it. I must have seen some reference to cooked cucumber somewhere.
Anyway here we are on a wet and miserable day, looking at cucumber - another summery thing isn't it, even though they are available all year round? Summery because they are cool, and associated mostly with salads, raitas, cool drinks and possibly its greatest manifestation cucumber sorbet. Not that I have made this, but I did once taste it at Vue de Monde - admittedly served with the theatrical panache of liquid nitrogen poured over some herbs and then topped with the cucumber sorbet. One of the most delicious things I have tasted in my life I think. Although it may have been the associated theatre, and the sense of occasion.
Chefs, professional cooks and recipe creators, of course, are always looking for something new, whether they explore the cuisines of other countries for ideas, their fellow chefs, historical dishes from their own country and of course from home. They also pinch each other's ideas - or put more politely build upon them and pay homage. So they look for new techniques, new ingredients, or new ways with old ingredients. Hence cooking cucumbers. Because we don't normally do that do we? They are too nice cool and crunchy.
I have done various posts on cucumber in the past, but I don't think I have ever tackled the idea of cooking cucumber. And I, myself never have. And probably never will. Nevertheless I have done my usual trawl of the net, plus a brief check of a few likely cookbooks and here is what I found.
Initially I did wonder whether in the past we had cooked cucumbers, or indeed if they are cooked as an everyday thing elsewhere in the world, and it would seem the answer is a sort of yes to both of those questions.
A few writer's said that cucumbers were quite commonly cooked in the past, and a website called Butter the Size of an Egg tried To ragoo cucumbers from a 19th century cookbook. Here it is - not looking that great I have to say, although the website experimenter said:
"my first taste was “this is odd, good, but odd.” By the end of the meal, the opinion was a firm “I would definitely do this again.”
Maybe.
As to the Asian thing, quite a few people maintained that the cucumber was frequently cooked in stir-fries and so on. However, I really did not find a plethora of Asian dishes jumping out at me. This one is from Ken Hom - Stir-fried cucumber - on the Great British Chefs website. Now he is a doyenne of Asian cooking so that's why it's here, but I have to say that it's almost as depressing looking as the nineteenth century ragoo.
Tom Hunt - a waste not want not inspired British chef, who writes for The Guardian submitted Bang-bang cucumbers, which look much more enticing and which as a bonus are good made with somewhat tired cucumbers. His tips:
"Cook them over a very high heat, so they scorch on the outside, which gives them a nice, rounded, savoury flavour. Soaked in an umami-rich dressing, this dish is a flavour bomb of deliciousness."
Well he would say that. I couldn't find much more in the Asian mode however and certainly no traditional well-known Asian dish appeared.
What about our foodies of the modern world? Do they cook cucumbers? Not much really, although the Martha Stewart website had the best general article I saw by Laura Manzano about things to note about cooking cucumbers and a link to this recipe for Roasted cucumbers with cream and horseradish.
As to things to note - Lebanese cucumbers are best because of fewer seeds. Yes remove the seeds from whatever cucumbers you are using because they make it all too watery, lots of heat is advisable - others said this too - so stir-frying and grilling are good, maybe roasting too, boost with other spicier flavours and post marinade with things like lemon juice, garlic, chilli, olive oil - the usual suspects.
I then found a recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Love Your Leftovers book which was for Sautéed cucumbers - a posher way of saying 'fried'. It looks good, but he's a professional and he has a professional stylist and photographer to help. Online he said 'see below' to find what to do with the peel - and there was nothing there. In the book he tells you that it's great with ice in a jug of water. On a summer's day. He also suggests a spicier Asian themed version:
"Sauté the cucumber in a little rapeseed oil with some chopped chilli or dried chilli flakes, sliced garlic and finely chopped ginger. Add a splash of soy sauce, a handful of coriander leaves and a few chopped spring onions at the end, and finish with a squeeze or two of lime."
I did find a couple more: Grilled cucumber and walnut salad from Mary-Ellen McTague and Pan-fried English cucumbers from Coffee and Champagne
As a sort of footnote to all of this I asked Google about cooking cucumbers and, of course, reddit had answers - which were basically - don't - but one cryptic answer was 'fried pickles', so I went searching and found one suggestion on Quora - slice them, coat them in a thick beer batter and fry, although they also said, that now they also add panko breadcrumbs after the batter, and it's better - and hey presto, a rather delicious looking, but unhealthy looking snack.
Well we do cook with gherkins and cornichons after all.
As I was checking out all these recipes and looking at the pictures I kept asking myself why would you do it? Well the finished dish often looked like zucchini rather than cucumber and that would work. Raw zucchini is not good, but is good cooked, raw cucumber is good raw, possibly not cooked - indeed it very much is. It's not the 'heart of the ingredient' to cook it is it? And I'll give the last word to Nigel as well as the first:
"Yes, I love this fruit thinly sliced with a crisp lettuce and chicken salad, grated and stirred into yoghurt with fresh mint to cool down a spicy little meat patty, and even cooked slowly in butter to accompany a piece of white fish. But the best use I have come across is as a sandwich filling, held between two thick slices of the freshest white bread." Nigel Slater
A final kind of postscript. Whilst looking for Asian cooked cucumber I came across this most wonderful article: Homemade Indonesian Pickles and the Importance of Personal Possessions - In the Vintage Kitchen. The recipe is for a quick pickle and is not cooked, so not relevant, but most of the article was about the importance of possessions rather than experiences, stemming from thinking about the COVID lockdown experience. I recommend a read if you have nothing else to do and are a bit philosophical. I'll look at her website sometime.
THOSE PAST YEARS
October 18
2022 - Buy this book - now - the book was the OTK Extra Good Things
2021 - Robert Carrier triumphs again - with jerk chicken
2020 - Skillets - I'm confused
2019 - Hamburgers
2018 - Priddy oggies, Paul Leyton and Mendip wallfish - otherwise known as snails
2016 - Avocado on toast is hot
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