I guess cucumber really is a fruit

[Fat Guy]

I've known since childhood that, botanically, cucumber is a fruit -- even though it's treated like a vegetable. So I've always thought, okay, yes, it's really a fruit but nobody actually uses it as a fruit so that's just a technical point.

Today, in East Harlem (a Latin neighborhood), on my way home from a bureaucratic errand, I passed a vendor on the street selling cut-up fruit of various kinds. I chose a mixed-fruit box, which was quite large for $3. As I was strolling and eating, checking email on my phone and not really paying careful attention, I started wondering what the fruit was that I was chewing on.

I looked down at my fruit salad and, lo and behold, mixed in with the pieces of mango, watermelon, papaya, pineapple and grapes, there were slices of cucumber.

As I stood at the crosswalk at 114th Street waiting for the light to change the guy standing next to me said, "Hey, is that cucumber in there?"

It took a while to get used to it, but the cucumber worked. While not as sweet as the other fruits, it definitely had a complementary flavor. Go figure.

[EatNopales]

Yeah that is the classic Mexican street vendor fruit salad... they will offer some chile powder, lime juice & salt along with it if you desire... also part of Mexican fruit salads are things like jicama, fresh coconut & a variety of vegetabely or "cheesy" fruits (Mamey, Zapotes, Nances, Jocotes etc.,)

[feedmec00kies]

Doesn't seem too strange to me, though I've never eaten it that way before; I find a lot of similarity in flavor between the white part of watermelon rind and cucumber. Not sure if that's just me, though.

[EatNopales]

Other "Fruity" applications for Cucumber in Mexican tradition:

Agua de Pepino (Cucumber-Key Lime Agua Fresca)

Nieve de Pepino (Cucumber Sorbet might include Chile)

Paleta de Pepino (Cucumber Popsicle)

Dulce de Pepino (Cucumber cooked in Raw Sugar - Cinnamon syrup until )

Cucumber Lollipops ( http://nuecesydulces.mx/tienda_2/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=692 )

[threestars]

You are not alone. There are some fruits that I thought was vegetable when I was a kid. And not just with food, even with other things. I love cucumber and your salad looks yummy!

[Peter the eater]

On a hot summer day a few weeks ago in my hotel's lobby I found the complimentary ice water bar. Each jug had a some kind of fruit inside -- lemon, lime, strawberry, watermelon and cucumber. All were fruity and refreshing.

[JAZ]

As we tell our cooking students, botanically, there is no such thing as a "vegetable." What we call vegetables can be fruits, leaves, stems, roots, or tubers.

[weinoo]

Interestingly enough, I've been getting into a new melon this summer - the Hami melon. It's a muskmelon, to be sure, but much crisper than a canteloupe. And with some cucumber overtones, which isn't that surprising, since they share the same family and genus.

[andiesenji]

My grandmother used to make a cucumber iced tea and a cucumber drink made with buttermilk. My grandfather had traveled in India back in the 1890s and fancied the latter on very hot days.

Many years later, when I "discovered" Indian food, I came across several recipes for these drinks.

Also, some cucumbers are quite sweet. Lemon cucumbers, for instance, the long, pale "Armenian" cucumbers (I grew both last years) and one I buy in the middle Eastern market, can't recall the name.

I think they can vary as much as the various melon types.

Edited September 23, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[CaliPoutine]

I've known since childhood that, botanically, cucumber is a fruit -- even though it's treated like a vegetable. So I've always thought, okay, yes, it's really a fruit but nobody actually uses it as a fruit so that's just a technical point.

Today, in East Harlem (a Latin neighborhood), on my way home from a bureaucratic errand, I passed a vendor on the street selling cut-up fruit of various kinds. I chose a mixed-fruit box, which was quite large for $3. As I was strolling and eating, checking email on my phone and not really paying careful attention, I started wondering what the fruit was that I was chewing on.

I looked down at my fruit salad and, lo and behold, mixed in with the pieces of mango, watermelon, papaya, pineapple and grapes, there were slices of cucumber.

As I stood at the crosswalk at 114th Street waiting for the light to change the guy standing next to me said, "Hey, is that cucumber in there?"

It took a while to get used to it, but the cucumber worked. While not as sweet as the other fruits, it definitely had a complementary flavor. Go figure.

on a somewhat unrelated topic. Have you ever gotten sick from any of these vendors? Something about fruit vendors gives me the creeps( maybe its just in LA), but I would NOT partake in any cut up fruit from a street vendor.

[EatNopales]

I've known since childhood that, botanically, cucumber is a fruit -- even though it's treated like a vegetable. So I've always thought, okay, yes, it's really a fruit but nobody actually uses it as a fruit so that's just a technical point.

Today, in East Harlem (a Latin neighborhood), on my way home from a bureaucratic errand, I passed a vendor on the street selling cut-up fruit of various kinds. I chose a mixed-fruit box, which was quite large for $3. As I was strolling and eating, checking email on my phone and not really paying careful attention, I started wondering what the fruit was that I was chewing on.

I looked down at my fruit salad and, lo and behold, mixed in with the pieces of mango, watermelon, papaya, pineapple and grapes, there were slices of cucumber.

As I stood at the crosswalk at 114th Street waiting for the light to change the guy standing next to me said, "Hey, is that cucumber in there?"

It took a while to get used to it, but the cucumber worked. While not as sweet as the other fruits, it definitely had a complementary flavor. Go figure.

on a somewhat unrelated topic. Have you ever gotten sick from any of these vendors? Something about fruit vendors gives me the creeps( maybe its just in LA), but I would NOT partake in any cut up fruit from a street vendor.

Your loss ... their product are usually FAR superior to getting cut fruit at any of the chic, casual eateries in L.A.

The street fruit vendors usually practice very good food handling... you at least watch what they are doing in the open.. at a restaurant you have no clue.

[Fat Guy]

In general I don't think I've ever had a problem with street-vendor food, fruit or otherwise.

[SylviaLovegren]

Interestingly enough, I've been getting into a new melon this summer - the Hami melon. It's a muskmelon, to be sure, but much crisper than a canteloupe. And with some cucumber overtones, which isn't that surprising, since they share the same family and genus.

Depends on the Hami. We got one in NJ last year -- my first Hami -- that was silken fleshed and the sweetest, most exquisite melon we'd ever eaten. Bought a few since, from the same source and other places, too, and they've been kind of meh. Good, but nothing amazing. Much as you describe, in fact.

[SylviaLovegren]

Also, some cucumbers are quite sweet. Lemon cucumbers, for instance, the long, pale "Armenian" cucumbers (I grew both last years) and one I buy in the middle Eastern market, can't recall the name.

I think they can vary as much as the various melon types.

The "Armenian" cucumber is actually a melon -- snake, to be exact. Snake melons belong to Cucumis melo, as do cantaloupes and muskmelons.

[annabelle]

Cucumber always tastes like melon to me. I think I'll cut some up with our next melon salad.

[CaliPoutine]

I've known since childhood that, botanically, cucumber is a fruit -- even though it's treated like a vegetable. So I've always thought, okay, yes, it's really a fruit but nobody actually uses it as a fruit so that's just a technical point.

Today, in East Harlem (a Latin neighborhood), on my way home from a bureaucratic errand, I passed a vendor on the street selling cut-up fruit of various kinds. I chose a mixed-fruit box, which was quite large for $3. As I was strolling and eating, checking email on my phone and not really paying careful attention, I started wondering what the fruit was that I was chewing on.

I looked down at my fruit salad and, lo and behold, mixed in with the pieces of mango, watermelon, papaya, pineapple and grapes, there were slices of cucumber.

As I stood at the crosswalk at 114th Street waiting for the light to change the guy standing next to me said, "Hey, is that cucumber in there?"

It took a while to get used to it, but the cucumber worked. While not as sweet as the other fruits, it definitely had a complementary flavor. Go figure.

on a somewhat unrelated topic. Have you ever gotten sick from any of these vendors? Something about fruit vendors gives me the creeps( maybe its just in LA), but I would NOT partake in any cut up fruit from a street vendor.

Your loss ... their product are usually FAR superior to getting cut fruit at any of the chic, casual eateries in L.A.

The street fruit vendors usually practice very good food handling... you at least watch what they are doing in the open.. at a restaurant you have no clue.

I'm thinking of the vendors that offer already cut up fruit in large plastic cups. According to my spouse( who is LAPD), in general, the food handling is not very sanitary. She has written numerous tickets for that. They often dont even have a license to sell.

[scubadoo97]

Yes it is and so are tomatoes. Coincidentally this mornings breakfast was a mix of diced tomatoes, cucumbers, crumbled French feta and green seedless grapes dressed with the juice and zest of a lemon and an orange, a dash of sherry vinegar, fruity evoo, S & P. So technically a fruit salad

[EatNopales]

I've known since childhood that, botanically, cucumber is a fruit -- even though it's treated like a vegetable. So I've always thought, okay, yes, it's really a fruit but nobody actually uses it as a fruit so that's just a technical point.

Today, in East Harlem (a Latin neighborhood), on my way home from a bureaucratic errand, I passed a vendor on the street selling cut-up fruit of various kinds. I chose a mixed-fruit box, which was quite large for $3. As I was strolling and eating, checking email on my phone and not really paying careful attention, I started wondering what the fruit was that I was chewing on.

I looked down at my fruit salad and, lo and behold, mixed in with the pieces of mango, watermelon, papaya, pineapple and grapes, there were slices of cucumber.

As I stood at the crosswalk at 114th Street waiting for the light to change the guy standing next to me said, "Hey, is that cucumber in there?"

It took a while to get used to it, but the cucumber worked. While not as sweet as the other fruits, it definitely had a complementary flavor. Go figure.

on a somewhat unrelated topic. Have you ever gotten sick from any of these vendors? Something about fruit vendors gives me the creeps( maybe its just in LA), but I would NOT partake in any cut up fruit from a street vendor.

Your loss ... their product are usually FAR superior to getting cut fruit at any of the chic, casual eateries in L.A.

The street fruit vendors usually practice very good food handling... you at least watch what they are doing in the open.. at a restaurant you have no clue.

I'm thinking of the vendors that offer already cut up fruit in large plastic cups. According to my spouse( who is LAPD), in general, the food handling is not very sanitary. She has written numerous tickets for that. They often dont even have a license to sell.

I am surprised she would know if it is sanitary or not. Most of the street fruit vendors come in to genres.. those who chop the fruit on the spot and those who only sell pre-chopped fruit. The later.. typically don't own their carts.. they lease them from a centralized processing plant that does all the chopping and sells through the vendors in sort of a franchise method.

The former chop the fruit into big slabs at home or commercial kitchen, keep it in an ice box.. a chop to order.. although sometimes they might get ahead of traffic surges.. in any case everyone who eats from street vendors typically watches their process.. if they touch money & fruit you don't buy from them. If you actually go & observe them up close you will note the customers have trained the vendors to either put on disposable gloves each time to they handle food.. or each time they handle money... the more successful carts have multiple people working them.. on handles money the other food.... a good cart always keeps a couple of containers of water to rinse knives & a clean stock of towels.

The whole attraction of street vendors is the impossibly fresh results & you can observe their every move. Vendors who make people sick get a bad reputation and go out business very quickly.

In restaurants on the other hand.. if they drop cut fruit on the floor.. how often do you think they actually throw it away?

[andiesenji]

EN, you mentioned in an earlier post about cucumber popsicles and yesterday my neighbor happened to mention that her mother had made several flavors of paletas for a party they had on Saturday and one was cantaloup/cucumber with lime juice and chiles - sweet, cold and hot all in one taste.

She also said that her mom makes a cucumber lime cold soup - they have a huge garden - that is also slightly sweet/sour, sometimes combined with watermelon or other melons.

Edited September 26, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[EatNopales]

EN, you mentioned in an earlier post about cucumber popsicles and yesterday my neighbor happened to mention that her mother had made several flavors of paletas for a party they had on Saturday and one was cantaloup/cucumber with lime juice and chiles - sweet, cold and hot all in one taste.

She also said that her mom makes a cucumber lime cold soup - they have a huge garden - that is also slightly sweet/sour, sometimes combined with watermelon or other melons.

Nice... did you get to try them?

Funny that you mention the soup & the popsicle... in Morelia there is a dish they call Gazpacho (very little resemblance to the Spanish dish)... which is very finely chopped Jicama, Cucumber, Pineapple and/or Mango tossed with very finely diced onions, ground piquin chiles, citrus juices, pineapple vinegar & grated fresco cheese.

http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&gcx=w&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=gazpacho+moreliano

Sweet, Sour, Salty, Spicy, Pungent, Umami, Colorful

[andiesenji]

EN, you mentioned in an earlier post about cucumber popsicles and yesterday my neighbor happened to mention that her mother had made several flavors of paletas for a party they had on Saturday and one was cantaloup/cucumber with lime juice and chiles - sweet, cold and hot all in one taste.

She also said that her mom makes a cucumber lime cold soup - they have a huge garden - that is also slightly sweet/sour, sometimes combined with watermelon or other melons.

Nice... did you get to try them?

Funny that you mention the soup & the popsicle... in Morelia there is a dish they call Gazpacho (very little resemblance to the Spanish dish)... which is very finely chopped Jicama, Cucumber, Pineapple and/or Mango tossed with very finely diced onions, ground piquin chiles, citrus juices, pineapple vinegar & grated fresco cheese.

http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&gcx=w&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=gazpacho+moreliano

Sweet, Sour, Salty, Spicy, Pungent, Umami, Colorful

I do remember eating that gaspacho - and being surprised at what appeared on the table when I visited Morelia. I do remember making a pig of myself eating corundas for breakfast. Our host prepared a wonderful beef stew and I simply can't recall the name. We also had cucumbers that had been cored and stuffed with cheese, Cotija, I think.

I've been to Morelia for dog shows when several of us took our motorhomes all the way to Mexico City, with stops in Guadalajara and Acapulco which also hosted the World Dog Show that year (1984).

We stayed in Morelia on the way down and again on the way back because we knew a judge who lived there and had a huge lot where we could park our rigs overnight.

We got a tour of the Governor's Palace and I took a lot of pics of the murals. Also toured the cathedral but weren't allowed to take pics inside.

[EatNopales]

EN, you mentioned in an earlier post about cucumber popsicles and yesterday my neighbor happened to mention that her mother had made several flavors of paletas for a party they had on Saturday and one was cantaloup/cucumber with lime juice and chiles - sweet, cold and hot all in one taste.

She also said that her mom makes a cucumber lime cold soup - they have a huge garden - that is also slightly sweet/sour, sometimes combined with watermelon or other melons.

Nice... did you get to try them?

Funny that you mention the soup & the popsicle... in Morelia there is a dish they call Gazpacho (very little resemblance to the Spanish dish)... which is very finely chopped Jicama, Cucumber, Pineapple and/or Mango tossed with very finely diced onions, ground piquin chiles, citrus juices, pineapple vinegar & grated fresco cheese.

http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&gcx=w&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=gazpacho+moreliano

Sweet, Sour, Salty, Spicy, Pungent, Umami, Colorful

I do remember eating that gaspacho - and being surprised at what appeared on the table when I visited Morelia. I do remember making a pig of myself eating corundas for breakfast. Our host prepared a wonderful beef stew and I simply can't recall the name. We also had cucumbers that had been cored and stuffed with cheese, Cotija, I think.

I've been to Morelia for dog shows when several of us took our motorhomes all the way to Mexico City, with stops in Guadalajara and Acapulco which also hosted the World Dog Show that year (1984).

We stayed in Morelia on the way down and again on the way back because we knew a judge who lived there and had a huge lot where we could park our rigs overnight.

We got a tour of the Governor's Palace and I took a lot of pics of the murals. Also toured the cathedral but weren't allowed to take pics inside.

Very cool! The stew was probably Churipo. Cukes with Cotija... nice.. I like them... in my version I add sauteed fennel to the core.

[andiesenji]

I know the name of the stew started with ahbar or something that sounds similar - it was a longer name.

[EatNopales]

I know the name of the stew started with ahbar or something that sounds similar - it was a longer name.

Stumped!

[andiesenji]

I know the name of the stew started with ahbar or something that sounds similar - it was a longer name.

Stumped!

Once I thought about it, I just had to know for sure so I phoned the wife of the (now retired) professional handler who escorted us on the trip, and she phoned him (judging some dog shows in Argentina) and got the answer for me. She did not make the trip.

The stew is a regional specialty called Aporreadillo made with dried beef called cecina in that region (similar to machaca) and with potatoes - often the potatoes are roasted first.

Now that I am reminded of it, I am going to look for a recipe, see if I can source some of the dried beef and make a batch of the stew.

Back to cucumbers, I mentioned something about this to another neighbor who said I should get to the farmers market on Thursday. Last week one of the vendors had Dragons Egg cucumbers which are small, white and very sweet - like a near-ripe honeydew melon, reportedly(by the vendor) sweeter than the Poona Kheera, Crystal Apple or the Lemon, all of which he was offering. Frankly I've only heard of the Poona Kheera before.

My neighbor bought a couple of the Dragon Egg cukes - said she thought the vendor was "cute" - and plans to drop by again this week.

Oy!

Edited September 27, 2011 by andiesenji (log)