Vegetable
Cucumber
PepinoCogombreCucumis sativus
Botanically it's a fruit, like its cousin the melon. What it tells you most is about cold: it likes being cool, but in a very cold fridge it goes soft and pitted.
When
Around: Jun–Sept · At its best: Jul–Aug
Around: Jun–Sept · At its best: Jul–Aug
Around: Dec–Mar · At its best: Jan–Feb
Around here
At Catalan markets you mostly see the short, dark-skinned cucumber and the long, thin-skinned one. It belongs more to southern Spanish cooking than to traditional Catalan food: gazpacho, pipirrana, salmorejo. Gherkins are made from small varieties.
At the market
- Firm from end to end: if the tips give, it's past it.
- Deep green; if it's turning yellow, it's overripe and bitter.
- Slim rather than fat: fewer seeds and less water.
- Skin with no wrinkles or wet, shiny patches.
At home
- In the least cold part of the fridge, in the drawer, wrapped in a cloth.
- Away from tomatoes, bananas and apples: they ripen it too soon.
- Whole, it lasts a week; once cut, cover the end and use it within two days.
If you have too much
- Quick pickle: slices in vinegar, water, salt, sugar and dill; in the fridge, ready the next day.
- Pickled in sterilised jars, if they're small, for the whole year.
- Make gazpacho in bulk and freeze it: just blend it again later.
- Don't freeze it whole: it goes soft and watery.
In the kitchen
- Andalusian gazpacho, with tomato, pepper, garlic and bread.
- Pipirrana, with chopped tomato, pepper and onion.
- With yoghurt, garlic, mint and oil, like tzatziki.
- In a salad with tomato, onion and oregano.
- Cold cucumber soup with yoghurt and dill.
What it brings
Per 100 g, raw.
- Energy
- 15 kcal
- Water
- 95% water
- Carbs
- 3.6 g
- Sugars
- 1.7 g
- Fibre
- 0.5 g
- Protein
- 0.7 g
Stands out for
- Source of vitamin K16.4 µg · 22% of what you need in a day
Data from the USDA (FoodData Central). See the full table ↗ · How we decide what stands out
In the family recipes
The recipes are in Spanish.
Goes with
- TomatoJun–OctAn August tomato and a January one only share the colour. And a good tomato's worst enemy isn't winter: it's your fridge.
- PepperJul–OctGreen and red are usually the same pepper at two stages: the red one was left to ripen on the plant. That's why it's sweeter and dearer.
- LettuceMar–Jul · Sept–NovIt's nearly all water, which is why local lettuce wins: freshly picked, it crunches, while one that spends days in a lorry arrives tired. It hates strong heat: in August it bolts and turns bitter.