CUCUMBER - Cucumis sativus

The phrase "cool as a cucumber" is true. The cuke’s cool, moist crispness is its biggest asset. People testing the inside of a cuke have found it to be as much as 20 degrees cooler than the air that surrounds it.

Dating back almost 9000 years, the cucumber originated somewhere between Myanmar and Thailand. It spread easily throughout Asia, taking hold in China as well as India. The cuke ventured into the Mediterranean early on where it was prized by both the ancient Hebrews and Romans. Even though not well suited to grow outdoors in cooler climates, the cucumber was a French crop in the 800’s and popular in England by the 1300’s.

Columbus carried cuke seeds to Hispaniola in 1494. By 1539 native Americans were growing cucumbers in Florida. In the U.S. today people eat about 10 pounds of cukes per year, about four of which are in pickle form. The U.S. commercial pickle business began with Dutch growers in Brooklyn in 1659 who sold their crop to pickle people. These entrepreneurs then flogged their products from stands in lower Manhattan.

Drawing by Laura Westlund for “Cool as A Cucumber, Hot as A Pepper: Fruit Vegetables,” by Meredith Sayles Hughes

	Drawing by Laura Westlund for “Cool as A Cucumber, Hot as A Pepper: Fruit Vegetables,” by Meredith Sayles Hughes

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