Isabeau Imako

I've always rubbed the tips of cucumbers with the cut ends to take away any bitterness. Someone dear to me thinks it's nonsense and that I'm nuts - but I BELIEVE!

Yes, I will be putting up a poll 'cause this is important.

*just as soon as I figure out how...

Mr Twine

I.. I don't get it. You what how now?

Isabeau Imako

Before preparing a cucumber, or even eating it straight, I cut the ends - the two tips - then take those ends and rub them against the (now cut) tips. Rubbing in a circular movement until the white, bitter gunk is sucked out. Then throw out the ends and rince the now bitterless cucumber, and voila!


ETA: Come on! I can't be the only one who does this.

Sea Warcliffe

I have seen someone performing this cucumber ritual once. He had the unfortunate position of being camp cook for a bunch of scientists in the field. We immediately fell into bickering and of course then set up an experiment (rubbed vs unrubbed) and a blind taste test. We didn't taste any difference between the two. Of course that could have been due to the tequila...

wow that sounds dirty

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Morgoth

The answer is certainly no, though I don't know if I am qualified to call it an 'old wives' tale' when I've never heard of it.

Also since we're talking about cucumbers, I'm curious about what kind of cucumber it is you have in the US that actually needs to be skinned or peeled.

I have American vegan cookbooks, and skinning cucumbers is quite often mentioned, and that idea just seemed a bit bizarre. UK cucumber barely has a perfectly edible skin.

Jolene Benoir

I'm not 100% sure if I'm understanding the question properly, but if you are just speaking about the very tips of the cucumber, I usually just cut them off and don't even use them.

The only time i would skin a cuke is if I'm making a tomato/cuke salad.

Normally, I just wash them with a veggie wash because of pesticides.

Isabeau Imako

Slicing Cucumbers have thicker skin than, what we call 'English Cucumbers', which have thinner skin, less if no seeds, and is slightly sweeter. This thick skin can even have a waxy substance as an insect repellent so should be washed before eating. I usually peel only half, in stripes, to keep some of the vitamins.

eku Zhong

in japan .. like most things..
cucumbers are tiny.



they also come in cute shapes..

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pancake

Haha! When I was a kid this was my job. It was drilled into me:

"If you don't rub the cucumber ends it will be bitter and give you heart burn!"

Handed down from my grandmother, to my mother, to me, and now to my kidlet.

Then again, my family is originally from Quebec, I wonder if it's a regional thing?

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pancake

http://www.budget101.com/household-t...cure-3456.html

Mr Twine

Not a practice I have ever encountered, no. XD

Rosemaery Lorefield

[QUOTE=Isabeau Imako;1595874Rubbing in a circular movement until the white, bitter gunk is sucked out.[/QUOTE]

This doesn't do too much to clarify OR to make it sound any less dirty

MissKillian Barbosa

Now I'm going to have to try this. I've never had a bitter cucumber, I don't think, but I don't want to take any chances.

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Isabeau Imako

After googling around, I've noticed New England often being pointed out as the area where this 'whatever you call it' originated, and on WIKI, they mention something about India,

So, maybe this comes to us via early English transport ships...

Isabeau Imako

I actually laughed out lound. While I did write the title in a wink-wink manner, I swear, my mind was only on the gourd at this point.

Rosemaery Lorefield

That's what makes it so magical!

Hana

hmm i never heard of this either (and grew up in New England most of my life). i have also never had a bitter cucumber. Nor do i even skin them at all! i just eat them skin and all. i even eat the ends, sometimes, and never had bitter taste. And that's eating the 'english' style, slicer style, and even the pickling-style cucumbers.

i wonder if different people have a different bitterness perception then?

Although wikipedia says this:

So i wonder if some people leave their cucumbers around on the shelf or in the refrigerator longer than i do, to give them a chance to go bitter, rather than buying and eating them fresh and straight away, before they have a chance to go bitter/sour.

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Brianna Ort

Another choice in the poll should have been "WTF?"

I've encountered a few cukes with an undesirable taste, but the vast majority turn out just fine with no magic manipulations involved.

Brianna Ort

And now I've come across references to "manroot."

And of course the California Manroot is also known as Bigroot.

Isabeau Imako

I had never heard of the term 'manroot' before.

''Damn, Bro, your manroot sure is bitter.''

Aliselia Aeon

I've never heard of it before.

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Sea Warcliffe

For regular comodity cukes, the skins are coated with a wax that contains gawd knows what - so we peel 'em. If its a proper cuke with no icky on it, the skin is left on and just fine to eat. Basically we have to defend ourselves from "plastic food" sometimes in the US....

eku Zhong

Make your cucumbers drink more pineapple juice.

Ramen Jedburgh

God damn it, I really can't keep my mind out of the toilet on this one....

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Ramen Jedburgh
Abusively Cute ^_^

Ayu Sura

Yup yup, mom always taught me to do that on the dark end - cut off the tip, rub it against the cut-off edge until there's white foam to get rid of bitterness.

Local cucumbers looked a bit different than here - there was more of a color gradient from light green to dark - over here they seem mostly uniform along the length.

HA!

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