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Stuffed Cucumber

A cucumber filled with a fish and bacon mixture, simmered in stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Cucumber and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,991 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Stuffed Cucumber

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the stuffing

  1. Mince the cold fish to a paste and season lightly with pepper, mace, cayenne, and salt.

  2. Add 1 teaspoon of milk.

  3. Cut a wedge from the side of the cucumber and remove the seeds.

  4. Fill the cucumber with the fish stuffing, replace the wedge, and tie it in place.

  5. Peel the cucumber.

Cook and serve

  1. Lay 3 or 4 pieces of bacon in the bottom of a pan and place the cucumber on top.

  2. Add the stock and lay the remaining bacon on top.

  3. Simmer for 15 minutes or until tender.

  4. Serve with sauce and garnish with slices of tomato or boiled peas.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cucumber + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,991 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Fish + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,432 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  3. Pepper + macetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,257 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Mace + milktop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,346 recipes

    Shared aroma: sabinene (woody, terpenic).

  5. Cucumber + fishtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Pepper and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cold cooked fish
Forms the main filling, giving the stuffing its body and flavour.
Fat bacon
Adds fat and savoury flavour as it renders into the stock and cooking liquid.
Stock
Provides the simmering liquid that gently cooks the cucumber and carries flavour.
Milk
Adds a little moisture to loosen the fish paste so it stays soft and spreadable.
Cucumber
Serves as the vessel, becoming tender as it simmers around the filling.

The step that matters

Simmering until tender. Cucumber softens quickly and can turn mushy if overcooked, while the fish filling is already cooked and only needs heating through. Checking tenderness at the stated time keeps the cucumber firm enough to slice neatly.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, fish, pepper, milk):

  1. Dillfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, fish, pepper, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Rings 3 See all 8 →

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