Mizeria is one of the most frequently chosen salads for dinner, there is nothing better in the summer. It goes perfectly with young potatoes, sprinkled with dill and with minced or pork chop. It also goes well with vegetarian dishes. Everyone knows it, the basis is cucumbers, but if we come across bitter ones, the whole salad will end up in the trash. This is a really bad option, especially when we are serving dinner to close and distant family. And what is worse, the mother-in-law is also there, it is a total shame. Don’t worry, bitter cucumbers are a thing of the past.
Where does the bitter taste in cucumbers come from?
It is absolutely not our fault. It is a simple and effective defense mechanism of these vegetables. They produce a bitter substance, called cucurbitacin, which repels small animals, nasty scum, ants and all other pests. Pests only need to try it once and they will quickly give up. Therefore, everything depends on the conditions in which cucumbers are grown. If they are favorable, we will not find a speck of bitterness in them. And those that are having a hard time will save themselves with a bitter chemical compound. The worse they are in, the more bitter they become. The substance accumulates mainly in the stem of the entire plant. However, sometimes it happens that cucurbitacin gets to the tip of the cucumber. It won’t poison you, you’ll just taste the bitter taste.
How to stop cucumbers from being bitter?
There’s a simple method for this. Many people may have heard of it, but they simply ignore it, explaining that it sounds like superstition. Experienced housewives know it very well, you’ll never eat a bitter cucumber in their house. But to the edge, it’s about the direction of peeling. Never do it from the end that was attached to the stem, i.e. the thicker, dark green one.To be sure, you can also cut off a piece. The process we always start with the light green tip – this is the side on which the flower was placed, sometimes you can buy it with already dried petals. If we make a mistake, the substance from the tip will be thoroughly distributed throughout the vegetable, along with the subsequent movements with which we remove the skin. But this is not a reason to completely give up eating them. Just remember, once and for all, which side you should start peeling cucumbers from.
Note: the bitter taste appears only in field cucumbers; greenhouse cucumbers grow in good conditions, so they do not contain cucurbitin.
You may hear about another method. It is quite risky and time-consuming. Namely, after each movement, the knife or peeler should be rinsed with water.
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See also: This is why cucumbers come out soft and limp. A popular mistake can ruin entire preserves
What to do with field cucumbers?
We already know how to peel cucumbers, so now it’s time to think about what you can do with them. We have already mentioned the cucumber soup, which everyone knows, but not everyone knows that you can make cucumber soup in jars for the winter, as well as:
