I like cucumbers. I like the cool crunch of them. I can eat them as they are. I can eat them in sandwiches. And I really like them in cucumber salad.
We have an old family recipe for cucumber salad. We even have old family cucumber salad making implements. There is a bowl. And a plate. And a five pound weight.
This is an important part of the process. The plate is just slightly smaller than the bowl. It will fit inside the bowl, almost to the bottom. The reason this is so important is that most of the water is supposed to leave the cucumbers.
My father, many years ago, would insist on this. He was adamant that the water would cause him severe heartburn and indigestion if it was still in the cucumbers. Therefore, it had to be all squished out of there.
We probably could have built some sort of medieval torture device to keep the cucumbers in line. But instead we stuck with the bowl and plate method.
And the weight. I must admit, the weight in question did not start as something to squeeze cucumbers. I believe it was an old killick my father used on a canoe for salmon fishing. It may have started as excess lead flashing at one time, and got melted down into a round sort of shape. Then, after it retired from fishing, it was carefully washed and wrapped with a coating of foil wrap, and put to use a couple times of year crushing water out of cucumbers and onions.
I know. There are some who just sweat the cucumbers a bit and not squeeze them, but we always like to torture our cukes.
For those who have never done it, making cucumber salad isn’t hard, but it can take time. You slice the cukes and onions, salt them, and put them in the bowl, under the plate and place the weight on top. Drain as needed. You may squish them for a day or more. Then add a little vinegar, sugar and cream and enjoy.
There are many variations. Some add dill. Some use sour cream. But it does make a nice side dish.
As long as you have the traditional squishing implements handy.
