Everything You Need to Know About English Cucumbers—Including the Best Ways to Eat Them

A cousin of slicing and pickling cucumbers, this variety has a slightly different shape and taste.

As summer heats up and salads and lighter dishes are what you want to eat, cucumbers are at their peak—and many cooks say English cucumbers are the best. Just what is an English cucumber, you may ask? It's a long, cool, crisp type of cucumber that is readily available in grocery stores all year long but especially appealing to eat in the warmer months. We reached out to experts to learn more about them and get tips for identifying, storing, and enjoying this elegant variety.

Meet Our Expert

• Sam Davis-Allonce, chef and caterer of Savor by Sam, and founder, Hot N Sauce small-batch hot sauces
  

• Ryan McEnaney, marketing and communications manager, Bailey Nurseries in St. Paul, Minnesota

Related: Yes, You Can Cook Cucumbers—Here's How to Grill, Bake, and Sauté Them

What Are English Cucumbers?

Sometimes called hothouse cucumbers, you can recognize English cucumbers, Cucumis sativus, by their long, skinny shape and dark green skin, says Sam Davis-Allonce, founder of Hot N Sauce and chef at Savor by Sam. Another clue: Since the skin is not as tough as that of other types of cucumbers, English cucumbers are often transported and sold in plastic wrap.

They are a relative of slicing and pickling cucumbers but are milder in flavor and lack the bitterness of short, wide, waxed varieties. "English cucumbers are also known as seedless cucumbers because they often have little or no seeds with a sweeter flavor than slicing or pickling cucumbers," says Ryan McEnaney, marketing and communications manager for Bailey Nurseries.

Selecting and Storing English Cucumbers

When shopping for English cucumbers, Check for ripeness by giving the cucumber a gentle press. "You should get a little give back," says Davis-Allonce.

At home, English cucumbers should be stored in their original plastic wrap in a dry area in the refrigerator. After you've sliced these cucumbers, they don't last as long, and new storage rules apply:

• "If you have sliced it, wrap a paper towel around the sliced end and place it in a plastic bag," says Davis-Allonce.

• "If you slice the entire thing into circle slices, place them in an airtight plastic container and place a paper towel on top of them, then close the lid," she adds.

The Perks of English Cucumbers

No peeling: You don't need to peel English cucumbers or remove the seeds like you do with other cucumbers. The skin is thin and tender and doesn't have the bitter qualities that other varieties possess.

Sweet flavor: The compound in cucumbers that can cause a bitter taste (and unpleasant digestive side effects for some) is called cucurbitacin; it's also common in other members of the gourd family, like pumpkins, squash, and melon. Burpless, or seedless, cucumbers—like English cucumbers—are bred without cucurbitacin, making them a gentler, sweeter, and more versatile alternative to other cucumbers.

How to Eat English Cucumbers

It's easy to get into the habit of preparing cucumber in the same few ways—sliced with dip, layered with hummus on a simple sandwich, or chopped in a green salad—but the English cucumber's fresh taste and crunch brightens up a wide variety of dishes:

• Satisfying sandwiches: In a Scandinavian shrimp and cucumber sandwich, these seedless beauties contrast with shrimp, dill, hard-boiled egg, red onion, Neufchatel, and pumpernickel bread for a hearty lunch or light dinner.

• Robust salads: A classic Ni?oise salad complements rich potatoes, green beans, fennel, tuna, and black olives with cooling cucumbers.

• Refreshing soups: Nothing says summer like gazpacho, especially when this cold soup is garnished with diced peaches, peppers, and chopped cukes.

• Poolside drinks: Made for warm-weather sipping, a vodka-spiked, granita-like pink watermelon-cucumber cooler takes these puréed fruits to the next level. (Botanically speaking, English cucumbers are considered fruits.)

• Light mains: Wild Alaskan salmon filets, glazed with miso paste and served over rice and shiitake mushrooms, get a cool accompaniment from paper-thin slices of English cucumber.

Read the original article on Martha Stewart.