Cucumber

Cucumis sativus

vegetable · fruit

The elongated fruit of a climbing plant related to the melon, eaten as a vegetable, most often raw; of the same species as the gherkin.

Origin

Foothills of the Himalayas (India)

Season (United States)

May to September · grows in your region

Preparation

The skin carries most of its fibers; the bitterness, when there is any, concentrates at both ends. Bitter all the way through, it goes in the bin: that is cucurbitacin, which makes you seriously ill, and cooking does not remove it. Its skin is eaten, and that is where its polyphenols sit: worth keeping, then — but under running water, rubbing it, which is what takes off most of what settles there, organic or not. Its lectins need a real boil, not just warmth.

Molecules

What slows things down Lectins

Did you know?

Its Greek name, angoúri, travelled as far as Germany, where it became Gurke; and the recipe for cucumber pickled in vinegar, from the Greeks, was known to the Cossacks.