{"id":11674,"date":"2018-05-24T09:12:19","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T07:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/?p=11674"},"modified":"2019-11-30T10:48:02","modified_gmt":"2019-11-30T09:48:02","slug":"cucumber-salad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coquinaria.nl\/en\/cucumber-salad\/","title":{"rendered":"Cucumber Salad"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Straight to the recipe<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n

\"LongA familiar recipe with a twist<\/h2>\n

One of the first modern recipes I published in the\u00a0Dutch<\/span>\u00a0section of this website was a cucumber salad. That was back in 2002. In the following years I kept adding recipes to\u00a0this page<\/a>\u00a0which eventually contained cucumber\u00a0salads<\/span>\u00a0from all over the world. This is the first\u00a0historical recipe\u00a0<\/span>for cucumber salad. In Dutch you can make a silly linguistic joke with the name of this dish: kwamkwammersloeg<\/em> is the past tense of komkommersla<\/em> (kom = come, sla = slap, past tense kwam = came and sloeg = slapped). In English this is absolutely meaningless.<\/p>\n

The picture is from the German translation by Camerarius of a commentary by Petri Andreae Mattioli on the works of Dioscorides, the Krautterbuch<\/em> (1563).<\/p>\n

The Geoeffende Keuken-Meester<\/em><\/h3>\n

This historical cucumber salad was published in\u00a0De geoeffende en ervaren Keuken-Meester, of de Verstandige Kok<\/em>\u00a0(‘the experienced kitchen-master, or sensible cook’) from 1701, in the chapter ‘Bereydinge van Salaaden’ (‘preparations of salads’). The book is a loose translation\/adaptation of\u00a0Le Cuisinier Fran\u00e7ois<\/em>\u00a0by Fran\u00e7ois Pierre La Varenne, first published in 1651. The author of the\u00a0Keukenmeester<\/em>\u00a0does not mention La Varenne anywhere, nor does he provide us with his own name. He does describe himself as a ‘zeekere Hofbediende van een Hoog Aanzienelijke Personagie’ (a certain court servant of a high, distinguished personage’).
\nIn 1653, the original\u00a0Cuisinier Fran\u00e7ois<\/em>\u00a0was printed for the first time in Amsterdam, followed by six more editions that were printed in either Amsterdam or The Hague. The most recent edition dates from 1721. The\u00a0Geoeffende Keuken-meester<\/em>\u00a0was not reprinted as often as its French counterpart. According to the\u00a0Bibliotheca Gastronomica<\/em>\u00a0it was reprinted three times, with the final one occuring in 1760. See bibliography<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The content of the\u00a0Geoeffende Keuken-Meester<\/em>\u00a0follows the courses of the meal according to the\u00a0service \u00e0 la Fran\u00e7aise<\/em>, just like the\u00a0Cuisinier Fran\u00e7ois<\/em>. This arrangement of the meal was used from the seventeenth century up to a good part of the nineteenth century. Contrary to the French edition however, the Dutch author moved all ‘catholic’ recipes to a separate second volume.<\/p>\n

The first volume of the\u00a0Geoeffende Keuken-Meester<\/em>\u00a0opens with ‘pottagien of potspijzen’ (soups and stews), followed by ‘eerste geregten’ and ‘tweede geregten’ (dishes for the first and second course respectively). Next are the ‘tussengeregten’ (literally ‘entremets’, dishes for meat days), then ‘salaaden’ (salads), and finally ‘pasteyen en taarten’ (pasties and pies). There are no recipes for fish. Of course, fish was also eaten by non-catholics, but the\u00a0Keuken-Meester<\/em>\u00a0has placed all La Varenne’s recipes for fish days, Lent and Good Friday in the separate second volume. The title page of that volume declares that it contains all ‘catholic’ recipes, and also recipes for ailing and ill people. But the second volume only contains recipes with fish. The last page of the volume however announces that the recipes for the sick will be released shortly. I have no idea whether this third part was ever published.<\/p>\n

Salad is not always raw food<\/h3>\n

The cucumber salads of\u00a0Le cuisinier Fran\u00e7ois<\/em>\u00a0are part of the chapter ‘ce qui se peut trouver dans les jardins’ (those things you can find in kitchen gardens). The first recipe however, is for a warm dish of cucumbers, braised in butter with onions, followed by a recipe is for pickled cucumber with cloves. The third recipe finally describes a salad in the modern sense, with raw cucumbers and onions. The\u00a0Keuken-Meester<\/em>\u00a0added the cloves from La Varenne’s second recipe to the third, wich results in a subtly spicy salad.
\nFrom the description of cucumber salads above it will be clear that salads in the seventeenth and eighteenth century did not necessarily have to be uncooked at all, and they could even be served as a warm dish. Both La Varenne and the\u00a0Keuken-Meester<\/em>\u00a0offer more salad recipes with cooked vegetables than with raw vegetables, but even the cooked dishes are often finished off with a dash of vinegar.<\/p>\n

Salad in the\u00a0Dictionnaire\u00a0\u0152<\/em>conomique<\/em> van Chomel<\/h3>\n

\"TitleIn order to determine whether the authors were negligent or whether it was common practice to consider warm dishes with vegetables as salads, I checked the\u00a0Dictionnaire\u00a0<\/em>\u0152<\/em>conomique<\/em>\u00a0of\u00a0Noel Chomel<\/a>\u00a0(1633-1712). Chomel was a priest who was interested in agriculture and he published his\u00a0Dictionnaire \u0152conomique<\/em>\u00a0in 1709. The complete title of his work from the edition of 1732 can be read here<\/a>. In 1725 an English edition was published, entitled the\u00a0Family Dictionary<\/em>. In this English version the definition of\u00a0Sallet<\/strong>\u00a0is as follows: “in general confits of certain esculent Plants and Herbs […], to be eaten raw or green, blanched or candied, simple and by themselves, or intermingled with others, according to the season.” The French edition from 1709 does not contain the lemma\u00a0Salad<\/strong>, but at least the third edition from 1732 (revised by P. Danjou) and the edition from 1767, revised by M. de la Marre, offer the same information as the English edition. The\u00a0Dutch<\/em>\u00a0editions on the other hand (1743 and 1768-78), only mention uncooked salad.
\nFor those interested in the first cucumber-recipe of La Varenne (which is the second recipe in the\u00a0Keuken-Meester<\/em>): this ‘sallet’ consists of sliced cucumber, broiled in butter or lard or suet. La Varenne adds an onion; the\u00a0Keuken-Meester<\/em>\u00a0adds some vinegar.<\/p>\n

The origins of cucumber<\/h3>\n

Cucumber originates from India, just as eggplants. But contrary to eggplants, cucumbers were already known in Europe during Classical times. Pliny the Elder (23-79 aD) writes in his\u00a0Historia Naturalis<\/em>\u00a0(XIX.23) that cucumbers were a favourite food of Roman emperor Tiberius loved. During the Middle Ages on the other hand, cucumbers were eaten with caution: according to the health theory of those days they were detrimental to your health. Because cucumbers need extra care in colder regions, they were a challenge for gardeners of the rich as they had to to experiment with hothouses and nurseries. Moreover, their employers did not have to be concerned with the nutritional value of the garden vegetable which consists almost 98% of water. They had plenty of other dishes to eat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Always sprinkle cucumber with salt<\/h3>\n

My mother and grandmother always sprinkled salt on sliced cucumbers, and left them for half an hour in a strainer. This was to remove the bitter taste. Today most cucumbers do not need this treatment, because there are no longer any bitter cucumbers in stores. People do not like bitter food anymore.
\nBut I still routinely sprinkle my cucumbers with salt before using them in a salad. Because, let’s be honest, these bags of water hardly have any taste at all otherwise …<\/p>\n

The original recipe<\/h2>\n

The recipe is from\u00a0De geoeffende en ervaren Keuken-Meester, of de Verstandige Kok<\/em>\u00a0(1701, vol 1, p.242, see bibliography<\/a>). There is no modern edition or facsimile available of this book.<\/p>\n

Komkommers.
\nZoekt de zagstste uyt eer dat de kernen beginnen hart te worden, schiltse, en doet van het witte veel weg: snijdse dan in dunnen schijven, strooyt ‘er Zout over, laatse op een Uyen met Kruydnagelen bestooken, leggen, zoo omtrent twaalf uuren staan; somtijds eens omkeeren, dan afdroogen, en met Oly, Azijn en Peper voordissen.
\nHeeft men geen tijd, omse zoo lang te laaten weeken, en dat men die eerder behoeft, zoo moet men der selven Sap tussen twee Schotelen uytdrukken, wanneer goed van smaak zullen weezen.<\/em><\/div>
Cucumbers
\nPick the softest, before the seeds harden. Peel them, and discard a lot of the white (?). Then cut them into thin slices, sprinkle salt over them, and let them rest on an onion pricked with cloves for about twelve hours, tossing once in a while. Then dry them, and serve them with oil, vinegar and pepper.
\nIf you lack the time to steep them this long, and you need them before that, squeeze the juice out between two plates. Then they will taste good.<\/div>
<\/div><\/p>\n

<\/a>Modern adaptation of the recipe<\/h2>\n

This cucumber salad is special because of the onion-with-cloves. Squeeze the cucumber very well before serving; otherwise the salad will be very watered down.
\nThe recipe mentions ‘the white’ of cucmbers. I think these are the unripe seeds. Modern cucumbers are seedless.
\nSide dish<\/span>\u00a0for\u00a03 to 4 persons<\/span>; preparation in advance<\/em>\u00a010 minutes<\/span><\/span>\u00a0plus 12 hours in the refrigerator; preparation<\/em>\u00a08 minutes<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cucumber2 (large)\u00a0cucumber<\/span>s
\n1 tsp\u00a0salt<\/span>
\n1\u00a0onion<\/span>, peeled and halved
\n8 to 16\u00a0cloves<\/span>
\n3 Tbsp\u00a0olive oil<\/span>\u00a0or half olive oil and half oil with neutral taste
\n1 Tbsp\u00a0wine vinegar<\/span>
\nfreshly ground\u00a0white pepper<\/span>\u00a0to taste<\/p>\n

Preparation in advance<\/h3>\n

Prick the onion halves on the round side with cloves, and place them in a bowl, flat side down.
\nPeel the cucumbers and slice them very thinly. Sprinkle them with salt and mix well, then put them in the bowl on top of the onion Cover the bowl with plastic foil (or a lid) and put away for twelve hours, or as long as possible. When preparing the dish for supper, start in the morning.<\/p>\n

Preparation<\/h3>\n

Drain the cucumber slices\u00a0 well, using your hands to squeeze out the remaining liquid. Pat the cucumber dry with absorbent paper towels or kitchen towels washed without detergent. Discard the onion.
\nMake the vinaigrette with oil and vinegar, beating it until it has thickened a little. For an authentic dish you should use more vinegar than is usual today. Modern taste generally leans to less acidic dishes.<\/p>\n

To serve<\/h3>\n

Temper the cucumber with the vinaigrette just before serving. Use one dish, or serve in individual small bowls.<\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/h2>\n

All descriptions of ingredients<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>Cloves<\/h4>\n

\"Wrought-iron<\/h4>\n

Cloves are the unopened flower buds of the Syzygium aromaticum<\/em>, a plant that originally only grew on the Maluku Islands (the ‘spice Islands, Indonesia). Their shape reminded the Dutch of\u00a0nails<\/em>, hence the name ‘kruidnagel’ (spice nail).\u00a0The English\u00a0clove<\/em>, which does not seem to have any connection with nails, derived from the French\u00a0clou<\/em>\u00a0(de girofle), which also means ‘nail’.
\nThe trade in cloves has been turbulent.<\/p>\n

\"\"During the Middle Ages, Arabs bought the spice from local producers and sold it in Europe. In 1514 the Portuguese conquered the Maluku Islands and they held the monopoly on cloves for as long as a century. The Dutch pinched the islands in the beginning of the seventeenth century and introduced draconic measures (death penalty to the smugglers of plants) in order to prevent the growing of cloves anywhere outside of Ambon. In 1770 the very aptly named Frenchman Pierre Poivre succeeded in breaking the monopoly on cloves (and nutmeg\/mace) by stealing some plants and transferring them to Mauritius and later toMadagascar.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Bibliography<\/h2>\n

The editions below were used by me. Links refer to available editions.<\/p>\n

The picture at the top of this page shows cucumbers that you won’t see at the greengrocer’s or the supermarket often. These are a variety called snake cucumbers. The picture is taken from the\u00a0New Kreuterbuch<\/em>\u00a0(1563), a (German translation of an) adaptation of the\u00a0Materia medica<\/em>\u00a0of\u00a0Dioscorides<\/a>\u00a0(40-90 aD) by the Italian physician and botanist\u00a0Pietro Andrea Mattioli<\/a>\u00a0(1501-1577).<\/p>\n