Cucumbers, dill, horseradish

By: Lennox Hastie
From: Finding Fire
Serves: 4

The saying ‘as cool as a cucumber’ refers to the vegetable’s refreshing nature and high water content; they actually feel cooler than air temperature. Given the intense nature of the grill environment, it is surprising that anything could remain cool but this dish manages to do that. It is refreshing and is full of distinctive contrasts of textures and flavours – all from the cucumber. The combination of fermented and grilled cucumber, and the bracing nature of the raw cucumber, results in notes of complex char, briny tang, and unadulterated rawness in the same mouthful. The dill crème fraîche binds the cucumbers into a heavenly threesome, which is lifted by the horseradish.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
1/2 bunch	dill, chopped
100g	crème fraîche
4	baby cucumbers, halved
	fruity, mild extra-virgin olive oil, such as arbequina or koroneiki
1	lemon or apple cucumber, cut into eighths
3	lemon balm leaves, chopped
1 bunch	watercress, leaves picked
15g	fresh horseradish root, peeled

For the fermented cucumber

Quantity	Ingredient
4	baby cucumbers, trimmed to remove the blossom end, halved
10g	horseradish root, peeled and sliced
1/2 bunch	dill, chopped
500ml	Salt brine, 5%
50ml	whey (see note)

Method

1. To ferment the cucumbers, place them in a 500 ml (17 floz/2 cups) sterilised glass jar, adding the sliced horseradish and dill and submerging in the cold salt brine and whey. Seal tightly and leave to ferment in a cool place out of direct light for 3 days. The cucumbers will break down naturally and develop lactic acid. Once fermented, refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Prepare your embers and arrange a grill directly on the embers.
3. Remove the fermented cucumber from the brine and drain, reserving the fermented liquid.
4. In a bowl, mix the dill through the crème fraîche with 60 ml (2 floz/¼ cup) of the fermented cucumber liquid.
5. Grill the raw and fermented cucumbers over direct heat for approximately 2 minutes until lightly charred. Remove and drizzle with the olive oil and toss through the lemon or apple cucumber, lemon balm leaves and watercress.
6. Arrange the cucumbers on top of the dill crème fraîche and grate over the fresh horseradish to finish. Serve immediately.

NOTES

The cucumber needs time to ferment, so begin the recipe 3 days ahead of time.

Whey is the reserved liquid left over from making ricotta or butter (see other recipes in this book).

Tags:

Cucumbers, dill, horseradish

Ingredients

For the fermented cucumber

Method

NOTES

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