Cucumis sativus, one of the oldest cultivated vegetables, grown for some 4,000 years, may have originated in S. India. Cucumbers were known in Europe in classical and medieval times, and were introduced by Columbus to Haiti in 1494, after which they soon spread all over N. America.
Like other cucurbits, cucumbers have a very high water content (96%). Of the large number (around 100) of varieties now cultivated, about two-thirds are for eating, and one-third for pickling; the longer fruits of the former are sold fresh, whereas the pickled cucumbers are relatively short and come packed in their pickle in jars.
A high proportion of the cucumbers sold for eating are now grown in greenhouses. They are seedless and self-pollinating, of uniform shape and length, and free of the bitterness which used to be a feature of cucumbers and accounts for the instruction in older recipes to debitter them. They are also said to be more easily digestible than their predecessors.
Besides its use in salads, and as a conventional garnish for cold salmon, sliced, chopped, or grated cucumber is often dressed with yoghurt and a little vinegar; in Indian raita, Turkish cacik, and Greek tsatsíki, etc. The Greek version is a common accompaniment of souvlaki or gyros (see doner kebab) in immigrant restaurants in America and Australia as well as in tourist restaurants on their home turf.
Cucumber can also be made into a fine soup. In England, thin and delicate cucumber sandwiches are a requirement for certain functions in the afternoon tea category.
The term gherkin, which applies to the cucumber varieties grown for pickling, includes not only the small fruits of dwarf varieties of C. sativus, but also the fruits of C. anguria, sometimes called West Indian gherkin or (because of its spiny exterior) bur(r) cucumber. This latter species is well known from Brazil through the W. Indies to Texas and Florida. In Jamaica it is called maroon cucumber, ‘maroon’ meaning ‘run wild’; and in Trinidad cackrey.
Dill is often used in pickling cucumbers; hence the use of the term ‘dill pickles’. In France it is usual to sell especially small gherkins, which are fruits of varieties selected or developed for the purpose and go under the name cornichons.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
