Why the French do not put cucumbers in the salad
'18.09.2019'
Source: Yandex Zen
Do not even try to feed the Frenchman salad with the addition of fresh cucumbers! For them, cucumbers are a very controversial product.
Do not be surprised to see in France, even in summer, on the shelves only long (from 25 cm) dark green cucumbers - those that we call "greenhouse" and usually eat only when there are no other options, writes the author of the French Baguette channel on Yandex Zen. But the French eat long cucumbers all year round! You can meet medium-fruited and especially short-fruited cucumbers in France, but rarely, unpredictably, and hope that you are lucky, especially not worth it.
Poor digestion?
Approximately every second Frenchman does not eat cucumbers at all: he believes that they are poorly absorbed, complicate digestion and bring discomfort. And then why are they needed if there are a lot of different vegetables, the use of which does not bring unpleasant sensations ...
To me personally, this attitude to cucumbers seems very strange. But, perhaps, our Russian stomachs are somehow more adapted to eating large quantities of cucumbers, because due to the climate (and partly the history), our choice of vegetables was always not too large, so we always ate a lot of cucumbers.
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Cucumber Salad
What is more natural for us in the summer than a salad of cucumbers and tomatoes? Different dressings, different greens, but the basis is the same: tomatoes and cucumbers. If there is a leaf lettuce, then we add it to them.
As I already wrote (here), the French call salad a leaf salad dish and they eat it all year round. If other ingredients are added to it, then it is already considered a “compose” salad (grated carrots, mushrooms, avocados, sweet peppers, corn, ham - in a word, where fantasy will lead). In summer, tomatoes are often added to salad leaves. And now, it would seem logical to chop and add cucumbers there. But not for the French! Having tasted cucumbers in a salad, the Frenchman will be surprised as if they had added, say, a raw zucchini there, and perhaps even begin to lay them out of the dish on the edge of the plate. In general, if you want to cook a summer salad in the French manner - do not add fresh cucumbers to it.
How do they eat them?
Most often, this is a dish served for appetizers: sliced cucumbers, salted with coarse salt and sprinkled with cream and maybe sprinkled with sibulet (as they call chopped onions). But, again, many French people don’t use cucumbers at all ... In supermarkets you can find ready-made salads with finely chopped cucumbers with the addition of white dressing, spices and sometimes celery.
The triumph of domestic cucumber
I am Russian, accustomed to a large selection of cucumbers in the market, wondered, why, why, with such an abundance and variety of any products in France, there is absolutely no choice of cucumbers ?! And these long sticks are like ridicule!
I asked this question to the French (including familiar farmers), but they did not understand me: why are there some varieties of a not very popular vegetable? And last year, in the summer, I brought from Moscow two kilograms of Lukhovitsy cucumbers. Perfect, crispy ... You can grind a pound in ten minutes.
I washed the cucumber and handed it to my husband ... He looked with disbelief and said that he had tried similar Spanish origin under the name "concombre snack", but he did not like them.
"And you try this one and then you will understand what delicious cucumbers are!" I insisted.
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My husband looked at me as if I were offering him a spoon of fish oil, but still he overpowered himself and took a bite ... and then again and again ... And then he had to see his eyes ... and a genuine reaction: “Oh, yes ... this is something completely different! You can even eat without sauce! ”
Two kilograms disappeared instantly - my children, of course, helped, and no one else from the French managed to taste my cucumbers.
And this year, to the question of friends: “What should you bring from Moscow?”, I ordered a couple of kilograms of cucumbers. And treacherously (contrary to the pleas of her husband) set aside part to treat other French (including friends, farmers). Everyone liked our cucumbers! I have not heard so many enthusiasm for a single Russian product! And the farmers asked me to bring them seeds, they want to try to grow the same on French soil.
Cucumber or gherkin?
For the French, cucumbers and gherkins are completely different vegetables. Related, but still very different, and therefore the Frenchman will never call the gherkin “little cucumber.” And the word "gherkin" (but not "cucumber"!) Is sometimes used by the French as names, insults - "you are a gherkin" means approximately "you are a fool, idiot."
