It’s great that cucumbers can simply be sliced up and ready to eat in a matter of seconds, but have you ever thought about what they’d be like cooked? While their high water content means the vegetable isn’t really suited to being baked or slow-roasted, there are plenty of other cooking techniques that bring out its flavour – especially when paired with fish.
Braising cucumbers, as the blogger Food Urchin does in his dish of Braised fennel and cucumber with sourdough crumbs, smoked pancetta and baked cod loin, means they keep their bite and fresh, leafy taste whilst simultaneously taking on the flavours of lemon and garlic perfectly. Chef Pete Biggs takes a gentler approach, making a cucumber and horseradish stock for his Turbot with oysters, cabbage and bacon, which he then gently heats with an oyster mayonnaise to make a rich, flavourful sauce. Turbot seems to be a popular partner; Dominic Chapman pan-fries the luxurious fish and serves it with an innovative cucumber beurre blanc, contrasting fresh and rich flavours with finesse. Steven Smith, on the other hand, boils cucumber and apple juice before adding agar agar and xanthan gum to make a smooth bed of sauce for his Mackerel and horseradish snow.
Cucumbers are quintessentially British – after all, how could we make our iconic cucumber sandwiches without them? – but their refreshing flavour works incredibly well with vibrant Asian cuisine, particularly southeast Asian. A relatively quick pickle makes the vegetable a perfect side to sesame salmon and sticky coconut rice, as shown by blogger Georgina Fuggle, while chef Paul Welburn makes a very cheffy cucumber ketchup out of juice, Chadonnay vinegar and shallots for his Lemongrass-smoked cod, mussels and sea vegetables dish. Food Urchin once again uses heat to bring out the flavour of cucumber in his Vietnamese seafood and cucumber stir-fry, quickly frying batons in a fragrant mixture of shrimp paste, chilli, garlic and spring onion.
Blending or juicing a cucumber leaves you with a fragrant, fresh liquid that’s ideal for adding to soups – especially iced ones for the summer months. Marcus Wareing’s White gazpacho is a nutty, garlicky, yoghurt-based shot of flavour which relies on blitzed cucumbers to lighten the taste. Matthew Tomkinson follows suit, combining horseradish, herbs, cucumber and mascarpone to make a cold soup to serve with his crab salad. For an even simpler, dish, Andy Waters simply blends cucumbers with mint, coriander, sherry vinegar and Tabasco to serve with crumbled feta cheese in his easy summer recipe.