Ensalada de pepinos - Cucumber salad, a Pinedo recipe

It's time for another Pinedo recipe!  (See the side panel for the tag "Pinedo" to see them all.)

My garden is producing chervil, an herb that tastes like black licorice.  I wanted to try one of her recipes that uses it.  Today I was in the mood for a salad, so on page 100 I found:

My Translation

I suspect that every culture that eats cucumbers has a version of cucumber salad involving vinegar -- they are a natural pairing.  

Aside from the use of chervil, this recipe is interesting because of the process she calls "deflamming" (desflamar).  This website, The Importance of Desflamar in Mexican Cooking, explains that soaking chiles in various liquids (milk or sugar water, for example) is useful to reduce the heat of the chiles in order to let the "underlying flavors shine."

In this recipe, the cucumbers and onions are deflammed; the cucumbers by soaking them in fresh water and the onions by soaking them in cold water with lemon juice.  Why do this at all?  

Cucumbers can be bitter.  A bitter-tasting chemical called cucurbitacin can form, mostly in the skin or just below it and at the ends, all because of the growing conditions - too dry or poor soil can contribute to this.  Peeling the cucumbers helps remove that, and soaking them in water may also help.  My cucumbers were not bitter to begin with, and I could not taste a difference after deflamming them.

Deflamming the onions helps reduce the strong taste that a raw onion has.  In this recipe, I soaked the sliced onions for 2 hours in water, a little crushed ice, and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.  I saved a few slices out separately so I could taste the difference between them, and it was quite distinct.  The raw onion's flavor was sharp and potent, whereas the deflammed onion's flavor was mellow and mild.  I could not taste the lemon, but the process turned the onions with bite into ones that were pleasant to nibble.

My Redaction 

4 cucumbers, about 2 pounds

5 ounces white onion, peeled and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tomato, quartered and sliced (1 more would be fine)

1 large jalapeño chile, seeded and deveined, quartered and sliced

2 tablespoons chervil, finely minced

(water cress if you can find it; I couldn't)

1/2 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

4 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh Italian oregano, finely minced

Peel and then slice cucumbers into rounds just less than 1/4 inch thick.  Soak in fresh water for 2 hours.  Peel and thinly slice the onion.  Soak in a mixture of water, a few ice cubes, and lemon juice for 2 hours.

Deflamming the cukes

In the meantime, prepare the tomato(es), chile, and chervil, and place in a large bowl.

Use a bigger bowl than this for mixing.

Drain the cucumbers and onions, then add to the tomato mixture.  Drizzle the oil over everything.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Mix well.

I added about this much pepper.

If the salad is not to be served right away, cover it and put it into the refrigerator.  Just before serving, mix it again, then add the vinegar and oregano.  Mix well.  A little piece of chervil makes a nice garnish.

Garnished with some chervil

The Verdict

My guest tasters and I all agreed that this was a very good salad.  The flavors were interesting:  the chile was a surprise to them but it didn't add fire, just its distinctive jalapeño taste.  We agreed the amount was just right (even the chile lover in the group), although a little chile heat would have been acceptable.  The onions were delightful because they didn't have that raw onion bite.  

We all wanted more tomatoes in the salad.  I would increase it to two for the same amount of cucumbers.  We thought the amount of salt and pepper was just right.

The chervil was a subtle support flavor, which was good because not everyone likes the taste of black licorice.  It was not something you could single out without focusing on it, and when I did focus on it, I liked the level of licorice flavor it added.  I did not focus on the oregano taste, so I feel it was a good background flavor, adding complexity without calling attention to itself.

The flavors were balanced, and the vinegar and oil mix was refreshing.  It was pretty to look at.  Success!

I enjoyed the leftovers the next day, so if you want to make this salad ahead of time and allow the ingredients to marinate in the oil-and-vinegar dressing, please do.  Miss Pinedo probably had limited refrigeration capabilities, so she might not have considered making this ahead of time.  Just mix it well before serving.