appetizer · Family recipes

Ingredients

• Cucumbers — 1 kg
• Onion — 150 g (one large onion)
• Garlic — 30 g (one head)
• Sugar — 75 g (3 tbsp)
• Salt — 30 g (1 tbsp)
• Black pepper — 1/3 tbsp
• Vegetable oil — 130 g
• Vinegar essence — 1 tsp

This makes one large food container. Triple the quantities and you get a three-litre jar with a bit left over.

Instructions

1. Prepare the marinade. In a medium pot:
   • slice the onion into half-rings, or chop it
   • finely chop the garlic, or run it through a press
   • add the sugar, salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar
   • stir with a spoon so the salt and sugar start to dissolve
2. Don’t peel the cucumbers — only trim any damaged spots. Slice into thick rounds, about 3 mm. If it’s a thick “salad” cucumber, halve it lengthwise first.
3. Mix. Add the cucumbers to the marinade, stir, and crush them lightly. They should release plenty of liquid. To check: press them flat against the bottom of the pot with both hands. If the marinade covers the cucumbers AND your hands, you’re done. If not, keep mixing and crushing.
4. Stir again. Let stand for half an hour, then stir again so the bottom layer comes up. Let stand another half hour.

Storage

Keep refrigerated.

Provided you’ve used enough vinegar:

• without any sterility effort, it keeps for a month;
• in a properly sterilised jar (as for canning), sealed, it lasts several months.