Cucumber Salad with Valerie & her family

When Valerie was asked to think of a family recipe, this was the first one that came to mind. Her mom grew up on a farm in Nebraska and “wasn’t a cook,” because she tended to do the outdoor chores, so she didn't pass down many recipes. Like her mother, Valerie does not think of herself as much of a cook. But this dish is one that Valerie learned from her grandmother, and she knows it well. Every year when the family had a big reunion, her grandmother would make cucumber salad, “and I'd be the taste tester,” Valerie explains, especially of the cucumbers.

Valerie’s grandparents were farmers in Nebraska. They did not have much money but were “land rich,” and raised pigs, chickens, and sheep. A resourceful and skilled gardener, Valerie’s grandmother grew and pickled vegetables to keep the family well-nourished throughout the winter. This salad mimics the use of pickled cucumbers because some were always in the cellar, even when cucumbers were out of season.

But using pickled instead of fresh cucumbers was not the only adjustment that Valerie’s grandmother made from what was likely a German dish learned from her own German fore mothers. Because no one in her family wrote the instructions down, Valerie searched online for a version of her grandmother’s cucumber salad. Reading similar recipes, she realized that the traditional recipe “actually was with sour cream” instead of the mayonnaise that Valerie was used to. She figures that her grandmother, who farmed chickens, likely had a lot of access to eggs and oil to make her own mayonnaise, whereas sour cream was harder to come by. 

Cucumber Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

Instructions

• Begin by peeling and cutting the cucumbers into thin slices.
• Slice onions into thin slices as well.
• In a jar mix mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar and salt together.
• Once the mayonnaise and vinegar are completely combined, add sliced cucumber and onions to the jar.
• Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour.