CUCUMBER PRESERVE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 274, 9 February 1928, Page 8

CUCUMBER PRESERVE

Take small cucumbers, and large ones that must afterwards be cut up Into pieces, the greenest and most free from seeds that can be procured; put them in strong salt water in a straightmouthed jar, with a cabbage leaf on them to keep them down; tie a paper over them, set them in a warm place till they are yellow, wash them out, and’ set them over the fire in fresh water with a little salt, and a fresh cabbage leaf over the pan very close; but take care they do not boil. If they are not a fine green, change the water and make them hot, and cover as before. When they are a good green take them off the fire, let them stand till they are cold, then cut the large ones in pieces, take out the seeds and soft part, put them in cold water, and let them stand two days, but change the water twice a day to take out the salt. Take a pound of single refined sugar and half a pint of water; set it over the fire. When you have skimmed it clear, put in the rind of a lemon and one ounce of ginger with the outside scraped off. When your syrup is pretty thick take it off, and when it is cold wipe the cucumbers dry and put them in. Boil the syrup once in two or three days for three weeks, and strengthen the syrup if required, for the greatest danger of spoiling them is at first. The syrup is to be quite cold when you put in the cucumbers.