Cucumber salad: A refreshing classic with ancient roots and modern benefits

Cucumber salad is an excellent choice for hot days. It makes a refreshing snack, a side dish for dinner, or even a complement to grilled delicacies. It is not only tasty but also easy to prepare. Enriching it with certain additional ingredients can make it even better.

Cucumber, which belongs to the gourd family, originates from Asia. To this day, wild varieties of this plant can be found at the foothills of the Himalayas. In India, it was cultivated as early as three thousand years before our era and eventually gained popularity in Egypt, Greece, and the Apennine Peninsula. In the Roman Empire, it was valued for its refreshing properties and often consumed on hot days.

The popularity of cucumber has not waned over the centuries. Christopher Columbus took its seedlings aboard his ships and established crops in Haiti. Soon, the juicy vegetable became popular in both Americas.

Salads made from fresh cucumbers remain very popular. Besides the traditional one, many tasty and refreshing dishes can be prepared with onions, peppers, avocados, or ginger, enriched with various sauces. Adding coriander seeds to them is worth it, as they go perfectly with cucumbers, giving the salads a pleasant, slightly citrusy taste.

Cucumber salads are not only tasty but also healthy. Cucumber is 95% water, low in calories, and effectively quenches thirst. It provides valuable nutrients such as phenolic compounds. Flavonoids, found in cucumbers, positively affect the circulatory system by strengthening blood vessels and lowering blood pressure. Lignans, which are phytoestrogens, exhibit anti-cancer properties, reduce levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol, and alleviate symptoms associated with menopause. Cucumber is also a source of vitamin C, B vitamins, and minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium. Furthermore, it acts as an alkaline agent, neutralising excess acids in the body, preventing many ailments like weakened immunity, headaches, constant fatigue, and drowsiness.

Adding coriander seeds to cucumber salads is beneficial not only for their delicious spicy-nutty-orange flavour and aroma but also because they are rich in essential oils, especially linalool, which has anti-inflammatory, calming, anxiolytic, and antispasmodic properties. This helps improve intestinal peristalsis, stimulates appetite, and helps manage stomach pains, bloating, and diarrhoea. Coriander seeds are also a source of vitamin C and other antioxidants, which strengthen immunity and neutralise the harmful activity of free radicals, delaying aging processes and the development of cancers.

The substances in coriander seeds can help lower bad LDL cholesterol levels, control the digestion of lipids, and protect against cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, the components of coriander support insulin secretion, maintaining blood glucose levels at the appropriate level.

Preparing a cucumber salad is extremely simple, especially the traditional one. Half a kilogram of fresh cucumbers should be washed and peeled (though some recipes allow leaving the peel on). The cucumbers sliced thinly, are sprinkled with salt, mixed, and set aside for fifteen minutes. After this time, the extracted juice is drained away. This procedure is recommended for every dish with fresh cucumbers.

Next, 200 ml of 18% cream (without additives such as thickeners and stabilisers) is poured into a bowl. A small amount of sugar, salt, pepper, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar (one teaspoon), and finely chopped dill is added. All ingredients are mixed thoroughly. The cucumbers are drizzled with the resulting sauce and sprinkled with coriander seeds. The salad is then chilled in the refrigerator.

Sliced, salted, and drained cucumbers, thinly sliced peppers (e.g., jalapeños), white or red onion, garlic, avocado, or chives can also be added. The salad is mixed with a sauce based on rice vinegar and agave syrup or soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar—all ingredients in equal proportions. Before serving, the dish is sprinkled with sesame seeds or finely chopped peanuts.