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Fried Cucumbers
Pare the cucumbers, cut them into slices about one-sixteenth of an inch thick, season them with salt and pepper, dip them first in egg and then in bread crumbs. Put two tablespoonfuls of lard or dripping into a frying pan; when hot, put in a few slices of the cucumbers; when brown and crisp on one side, turn and brown the other. Take out carefully, drain on brown paper, and serve very hot.
A simple breaded-and-fried vegetable, with one measurement that will not work as written and a moisture problem the original ignores.
- Slice thicknessOne-sixteenth of an inch is thinner than most breading will survive; the slice collapses and the crust cooks before the cucumber does. A quarter-inch slice holds an egg-and-crumb coating and still cooks through in the time it takes to brown.
- Salt first, then waitCucumber is largely water and will steam its own coating loose. Salt the slices, let them drain in a colander 20-30 minutes, then blot dry before dipping — this is the step that decides whether they come out crisp or soggy.
- Lard or drippingTwo tablespoons of either is a shallow-fry, not a deep-fry. Any neutral oil with a high smoke point works; lard was one of the two fats named. The recipe says only 'when hot' — aim for fat hot enough to brown a crumb briskly without smoking, and replenish it between batches, since the crumbs absorb a good deal.
- "A few slices"Meaning: do not crowd the pan. Cucumber releases water fast, and a full pan drops the fat temperature enough to stew rather than fry.
- Brown paperNineteenth-century kitchens drained fried food on brown paper, as the recipe directs. Use a wire rack over a sheet pan, or paper towels; a rack keeps the underside from going limp.
- Choose the cucumberPeriod cucumbers were generally field-grown, and paring was the routine instruction. With modern English or Persian cucumbers the peel is edible and the seed core small, so paring is optional and the slices hold together better.
- Yield and servingThe recipe gives no quantity; reckon roughly two medium cucumbers for three or four as a side dish. They should go to the table straight from the pan, as the original directs ('serve very hot') — reheated, the coating never recovers.
Fried cucumbers turn up regularly in early American cookbooks, and the reason is partly medical superstition: raw cucumber was widely held to be indigestible, chilling to the stomach, even dangerous in hot weather, so cooking it was the respectable option. Frying in egg and crumbs was a common treatment for watery vegetables — the same method was applied to eggplant, squash and green tomatoes.