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Old-time Sweet Pickled Cucumbers

A historical recipe from La cuisine creole, by Lafcadio Hearn (1885).

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A historical recipe

La cuisine creole: a collection of culinary recipes from leading chefs and noted Creole housewives, who have made New Orleans famous for its cuisine, by Lafcadio Hearn (1885). Project Gutenberg eBook #75027.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards. Its words name: home canning or sealing in jars, preserving or pickling, curing or salting meat, a substance or vessel no longer considered safe. Check current food-safety guidance before following this.

United States

Known as an American recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.

  • Home canning. Old canning methods can let botulism through. Use current tested canning guidance.
  • Preserving. Old preserving methods may not make food safe to keep. Use current tested guidance.
  • Curing. Old curing amounts and salts may be unsafe. Use current tested guidance.
  • Additives or old utensils. The text names something no longer considered safe in food or for cooking in, such as lead, alum, borax, bitter almonds or copper pans. Don't use it.

Ingredients 6 ingredients

  1. one quart of strong vinegar
  2. one pint of water
  3. three pounds of sugar
  4. four pounds of cucumbers
  5. one ounce of cinnamon
  6. ten pounds of fruit

Possible health benefits

General information, not medical advice.

  1. Cucumber Source of vitamin K · Source of protein

    Source of vitamin K · 16 µg per 100 g, 22% of the reference intake per 100 g

    • Vitamin K contributes to normal blood clotting.
    • Vitamin K contributes to the maintenance of normal bones.

    Vitamin K is a nutrient that the body needs to stay healthy. It’s important for blood clotting and healthy bones and also has other functions in the body. NIH fact sheet

    Source of protein · 0.7 g per 100 g, 17% of the energy from protein

    • Protein contributes to a growth in muscle mass.
    • Protein contributes to the maintenance of muscle mass.
    • Protein contributes to the maintenance of normal bones.

    Nutrients per 100 g of “Cucumber, with peel, raw”, USDA FoodData Central.

Claims: EU Register of health claims (Regulation (EU) No 432/2012, © European Union, CC BY 4.0), shown only where the ingredient meets the claim's conditions (Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006). Nutrients: USDA FoodData Central (CC0). Facts: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (public domain).

Cook safely

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

  • Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
  • Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.

Method

  1. Put your cucumbers in brine for eight days;
  2. slice them without soaking;
  3. let the slices be an inch thick.
  4. When cut, soak them until the salt is nearly out, changing the water very often.
  5. Then put them in a kettle, with vine leaves laid between the layers;
  6. cover them well with leaves, and sprinkle pulverized alum all through them, to harden and green them, then cover with vinegar, and set them on the back of the stove until they become green.
  7. Take the cucumbers out and boil them a little in ginger tea (half an hour will be enough).
  8. Make a syrup of one quart of strong vinegar, and one pint of water, three pounds of sugar to four pounds of cucumbers, with one ounce of cinnamon, cloves, mace and white ginger to every ten pounds of fruit.
  9. Make this syrup hot, and put in the cucumbers and boil them until clear.
  10. When they are clear take them out and boil the syrup until it is thick enough to keep.
  11. Pour it over the cucumbers, which should have been placed in jars ready for the syrup.
  12. They are now ready to use, or seal up, as may be desired.
  13. If not convenient to pickle after eight days salt brining, it does not hurt to let them remain a few days longer.

Plating

Cookware for this recipe

  • Saucepan
  • Chef's knife
  • Cutting board
  • Kettle
Source Public domain in the USA
Credit

From La cuisine creole, by Lafcadio Hearn (1885). Digitised by Project Gutenberg, eBook #75027 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75027). Public domain in the USA; its status may differ elsewhere.

What was changed: As printed, from the book's text; Project Gutenberg's header and licence removed. Ingredient lines were read out of the text by a program. A historical recipe, not current advice.