Karina learns to "milk" a Cucumber!

I went down to Santa Cruz this week and visited my sister's garden one last time before she made the big move to a new place. This meant one last raiding of her plentiful, lovely organic garden.


My next post will be feature the killer meal I made with all of her lovely garden gifts, but first I wanted to share this trick Alia taught me to get any bitterness out of fresh cucumbers. To leave them as delicious as possible- you simply MILK them!


First you slice off the top of the cucumber and set it aside. With as much force as you can muster, begin digging your thumbs along the skin of the cucumber, always pushing and twisting towards the open top. Do this for a few minutes.



Next, take the set-aside top, and begin swirling it in small circles against the the open cucumber surface. Do this for several minutes.


Foam will start to form around the edges. This is the bitterness being pulled out!


The longer you do it, the more foam will be drawn out.


Wash off the foam and you're ready dig in to your fresh, non-bitter cucumber!

Thanks, Sis!