Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1901-08-02
ABOUT THE CUCUMBER
HARDEST WORKED OF VEGETABLES
AND SOMETIMES THE BEST.

No Foe to Dyspeptics When Rightly Used
and Lots Of Ways Using 1t - It's An
cient and Aristocratic-Makes a Drink
in Egypt-Odd Ways of Serving.
The cucumber is the hardest-worked
member of the vegetable kingdom.
At least it is if we may judge by the
variety of it's uses. From America to
Asia Minor it appears as an article of
food on dinner tables and supper
tables, all over the civilized world.
But that does not exhaust its possibili-
ties by any means. In Egypt 1t is
made to yield a pleasant cooling drink
by ingenious treatment. A hole is cut
in the cucumber, the pulp Is broken
and stirred with stick, and the hole
closed with wax. The cucumber, still
fastened to its stem, is lowered into a
pit. After a few days the juice fer
ments, and the Egyptian drawing 1t
off has liquor exactly suited to his
taste.
When my lady wishes to allay sun
burn OF to soften and whiten her skin,
OH 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 efficacious, 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 1t is, doctors
who have delicate digestions In charge
taboo it. The average man eats II
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 digestible 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 tc
| their principles. They have discov
| cred the innermost sources of the
squash and the potato and all their
! 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
| we'll fed on ten cents day.
Now cucumbers do not stand high
! in their list. They are among the or
naments. They represent the acces'
series, the poetry of diet as 1t were
| But. however, these modern scientists
have lessened the ancient prestige of
the cucumber they show how it can
be made digestible st least.
Buy a 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 q thick pairing.
This is important because the cucum-
Der contains a 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 fiabby 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. But 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 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 q mere interloper a few
paltry centuries old, like the potato.
Even in Bible times it was eaten and
enjoyed under the name Of mandrake.
80" the seal Of royal approval
T 1aoie every day. hcSc1s''s"r"rsT III
.o1 may have laid m fny . othei
s s',, indigestion by indulpin~ t., .nein,
yuity cucumber, is an unyecorSo - ,, ,ne
nut IN digestive war of Mo LEU '. ls''
oies cucumbers could unso,'s se,a-
carry on the honors for the most mis-.
chief done to mankind
How Tiberius liked his cuc,,m bers
Pllny does not say. But for ordinary
everyday use modern taste prefers
them raw. For state occasions. or
"hen few extra frills are desirable,
cucumDers may be served in more un.
usual ways. Old ones, too large and
tougn TO be good raw, are delicious
boiled For three or four persons two
large cucumbers are enough. Pare
them, cut into lengths of three Or four