Not all cucumbers are long and green (Cucumbers)

Member Name: janharper

Product:	Cucumbers
Date:	07/05/09 (162 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Varieties for different tastes and purposes

Disadvantages: Not easy to grow and not everyone like them

For most of us a cucumber is a long green thing that we can slice, or chop and eat pickled, or with salad. However, there is a lot more to this much underrated vegetable.

Cucumbers are very versatile and widely cultivated. They are in fact gourds of the family cucurbitaceae. This is a creeping vine that grows up trellis and fences clinging on with its on tendrils for support and its big leaves protect the fruit. There are several different varieties which are normally in their 'green' unripe state because ripe cucumbers turn yellow and become too bitter to eat.

The Armenian cucumber is snakelike in shape and crisp, mild. It has a very thin skin and so it doesn't need to be peeled. This particular variety is probably more closely related to the melon in flavour. It isn't easy to get hold of.

English cucumbers grow up to about 0.60cms long and have very few seeds. The skins are very delicate and can be eaten. These can be grown in all but the coldest of climates, under glass where required.

Japanese cucumbers are mild in taste with a rough, bumpy skin and are used for salad and pickling. They are not seasonal and can be harvested at any time of the year.

Mediterranean cucumbers are mild tasting and thin skinned, these cucumbers are almost seedless and used for a variety of culinary purposes.

The Persian cucumber has long been available in Canada and the Dominican Republic and has recently been grown in Britain, although it needs extra warmth. It is a very small seedless cucumber and grows to about 15cms long. The flavour is mild and it is easy to slice.

Dosaki is a yellow, Indian cucumber used in cooking and to make chutney, while the lemoin cucumber is usually eaten raw.

Cucumbers are grown and eaten in almost every country of the world and their variety is amazing. If you want to grow cucumbers you don't have to stick with the plain green English variety. These plants are not easy to grow but a little extra attention really pays off.

Or, if you don't fancy growing your own you could always keep your eyes open on market stalls and in speciality shops, for different kinds of cucumber.

Summary: A vegetable that can be interesting and varieties worth trying