Vegetables of the year 2019 The cucumber

The cucumber: vegetables of the year 2019 and 2020

Germans love cucumbers. After tomatoes, carrots and onions, the cucumber is the most bought vegetables. Also cucumbers are eaten gladly. With a water content of 97 percent, the cucumber is one of the richest and most low-calorie vegetable crops. The valuable ingredients are mostly in the shell, so that the vegetables are best eaten unpeeled. The Association for the Conservation of Crop Variety has named the cucumber vegetable of the year 2019 and 2020. The election aims to encourage the conservation and spread of seed-resistant varieties that can be replicated.

Cucumbers are mostly made of water and are therefore a delicious refreshment, especially in summer. The stalk approach should be cut away. Bitter substances form faster in it. (Image: graletta / fotolia.com)

The cucumber (Cucumis sativus) belongs to the cucurbitaceae family and is closely related to pumpkins and zucchini. Originally the vegetables are from northern India. There it developed from an extremely bitter and small-fruited wild form about 3,500 years ago. Only in the 16th century did the cucumber find its way to Western Europe. The modern snake cucumbers are bred only since the late 19th century. In addition to the elongated, green cucumbers, there is a wide variety of shapes and colors. The spectrum ranges from white to yellow to striped, from spherical to cylindrical. In the field, the cucumber can creep on the ground or grow on climbing aids, while in the greenhouse it is usually led up by strings.

Today's cucumbers are usually almost free of bitter substances. In case of lack of water supply, it may happen that the cucumber bitter substances form. Therefore, it makes sense to take a taste before preparing. According to an old kitchen rule, the cucumber should be peeled from the flower to the stalk, since the bitter substances accumulate from the stem approach. Often only the first few inches are bitter. With increasing maturity, the bitter substances are degraded, so that when late harvested Schmorgurken hardly problems. Also, immersion in water reduces the bittern content. Heike Kreutz, bzfe