Every day during the summer, at 6:56 am and 8:43 am, Marion Sauveur gives you a recipe idea to brighten up your taste buds.
Today, the cucumber.
Marion Sauveur, with you we cook our good local products all summer. And this morning, we tackle the cucumber.
A cucurbit like zucchini or pumpkin that grows on a beautiful climbing plant. And the cucumber grows at the base of small yellow flowers. He is originally from India. It would have been quickly cultivated on the banks of the Nile by the Egyptians. In France, it is thanks to Charlemagne that we begin to taste it. At the time, he was very bitter. Louis XIV's gardener in Versailles, La Quintinie, will develop his greenhouse production to satisfy the king, who loved cucumber-based soups.
There are several varieties of cucumbers: the most common is the Dutch cucumber.
Long, smooth and not bitter unlike its thorny cousin.
And a third fairly well-known variety: the mini-cucumber, strong in taste and with much less seeds.
The cucumber is chosen firm with a shiny, very green and smooth skin.
The smaller the cucumber, the fewer seeds it will have.
How do you propose to cook it?
As an aperitif bite.
We start by peeling the cucumber, before cutting it into sections of 4 centimeters.
We remove the center with the seeds with a spoon and fill it with a stuffing: fresh cheese, basil, balsamic vinegar.
It's very fresh and it's a change from cucumber sticks to dip in the sauce.
And with the skins of the cucumber, you can flavor water with a little mint.
You put your carafe in the fridge for 2-3 hours and you will have a very refreshing drink.
Ingredients :
1 cucumber
100g of cream cheese
12 basil leaves
1 pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
10 sprigs of chives
The steps of the recipe:
1.
We start by peeling the cucumber, before cutting it into 4 cm sections.
2.
Remove the center with the seeds with a spoon… and fill it with a stuffing: fresh cheese, basil, balsamic vinegar.
3.
To make it pretty, tie a sprig of chives around each bite.
4.
Little tip: you can collect the skin of the cucumber to flavor water with a little mint, you will have a very refreshing drink.
Like every morning, you ask a chef for a little tip.
Today I am making you travel thanks to Ecatarina Paraschiv, chef of Ibrik, in Paris who offers Balkan cuisine where cucumber is particularly cooked there: since it is very hydrating. She suggests that we make cucumber pickles. "In a saucepan you will mix water, sugar, salt, berries. You bring to the boil. You let cool a little. The cucumbers, you place them in an airtight jar and you will come to pour this mixture. on the cucumbers so still lukewarm. I add 2-3 small pieces of horseradish and this horseradish will simply keep the vegetable crunchy. We close the jar hermetically, and put it upside down ".
At Ibrik Déli, Ecatarina Paraschiv makes a tzatziki with cucumber and she once again uses horseradish, this spicy root to spice it up.
It accompanies Souvlaki, grilled chicken skewers.
Another address?
In Paris, at Maison Rostang.
The starred chef Nicolas Beaumann makes strips of marinated cucumbers served with seared tuna and confit seasoned with capers.