Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-09-04
ABOUT THE CUCUMBER
HARDEST WORKED OF VEGETABLES
AND SOMETIMES TIE BEST.

= in Egypt-Odd Ways of Serving.
The cucumber is the hardest-worke ed
member Of the vegetable kingdom
At least 1t is if we may judge by the
variety of its uses. From America to
Asia Minor-ft appears as an article OF
food on dinner tables and supper
tables, all over the civilized world
But that does not exhaust its possiblli-
ties by any means. In Egypt 1t is
made to yield pleasant cooling drink
! by ingenious treatment. A hole Is cut
In the cucumber, the pulp is broken
and stirred with q stick, and the hole
closed with wax. The cucumber, still
fastened to Its stem, is lowered into a
pit. After few days the juice fer
ments, and the Egyptian drawing it
off has liquor exactly suited to his
! taste.
When my lady wishes to allay sun
burn or to soften and whiten her skin,
on general principles she calls for Gu
cumber soap or cucumber cream. The
very name makes her think that the
preparation must be harmless as well
as efflcacious, and the Beau Brum-
mels Of to-day use cucumber pomade
with the same sense Of security.
Then pickles-what is more univer-
sally popular than the pickle, and
what new-fangled invention can bear
comparison with the old-fashioned
time-honored cucumber pickle! From
the days of kits and pinafores when
boys and girls ate huge penny pickle
with surreptitious bites, to the days
of formal dinners, when baby cucum-
bers appear as gherkins, what relish
sharpens hunger like pickle?
Yet the cucumber in its natural state
is at once the temptation and the
menace Of the eating world. Plump,
green and inviting as it is, doctors
who have delicate digestions in charge
taboo it The average man eats it
cheerfully, but with a sneaking fear
Of consequences. Mental science
should turn Its attention to cucumbers
for while. If It should convince the
universal mind that cucumbers were
in reality dlgestible and could issue a
guarantee with every cucumber sold
the digestive Woe of humanity would
be wonderfully lightened.
In the meantime household scien-
lists have advanced to the rescue.
Nothing is beyond them. They have
reduced the most Illogical OF foods to
their principles. They have discov
cred the innermost sources Of the
c1, ln tA pn hot
kith and kin. With persistent dill
gence they have tabulated foods ac-
cording to their nutritive value, and
by following these tables the poorest
woman in the slums can learn how to
keep home happy, and her husband
well fed on ten cents day.
Now cucumbers Go not stand high
In their list. They are among the or.
naments. They represent the acces-
sories, the poetry of diet as it We're.
But however, these modern scientists
have lessened the ancient prestige of
the cucumber they show how it can
be made digestible at least.
Buy q medium-sized cucumber to
serve raw is the first of the modern
rules for the hygienic housekeeper.
1t should be a good green and firm to
the touch. Remove thinly skins from
both ends and cut off n thick pairing.
This Is important because the cucum-
ber contains bitter principle, and
much of it lies near the skin and the
stem end. Not trace Of green should
be seen when the pairing is finished.
The cucumber should then be cut into
slices, wafer thin, and put into salt
and water. Let not the unwary cook
be led to think that this will make
them brittle and crisp, however. They
will be as flabby as celery week old
but digestible.
Since most people prefer their GU
cumbers crisp or not at all, this method
finds little favor except among inva-
lids and incurables. Bat cold water
without the salt answers almost the
same purpose, and the cucumbers
come out after their soaking as fresh
and tender as If they had just been
picked from the vines. Drained and
covered with crushed ice and served
they make dish fit for a king. Kings,
indeed, have appreciated the value of
the cucumber from time immemorial.
For the cucumber, as far as lineage
goes, is an aristocrat among the vege-
tables; not a mere interloper a few
paltry centuries old, like the potato.
Even in Bible times it was eaten and
enjoyed under the name of mandrake.
Pliny sets the seal of royal approval
ON it by telling that the Emperor III
berius had cucumbers served at his
table every day. How many other
Emperors may have laid up for them
selves indigestion by indulging in the
juicy cucumber, is an unrecorded list.
But in a digestive war Of the vegeta-
bles cucumbers could undoubtedly
carry off the honors for the most mis-
chief done to mankind.
How Tiberius liked his cucumbers,
Pliny does not say. But for ordinary
everyday use modern taste prefers
them raw. For state occasions, or
when a few extra frills are desirable,
cucumbers may be served in more un-
ucual wovs Old onps ron Iorpa on1