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French Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream and Dill
I first had this dish many years ago in Lyons, France. It was
prepared by an excellent cook who was also a medical researcher I was visiting.
The salad was the cooling starter course for dinner on a warm summer evening.
It’s easy to make, particularly if you use a vegetable slicer for slicing the
cucumber. Although the salad was originally finished with crème fraiche (French
cultured heavy cream), American sour cream or plain Greek-style yogurt do
almost as well.
The recipe serves six as an appetizer course or side dish for
dinner.
2 large regular cucumbers or one long (plastic sleeved)
cucumber
8 ice cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt for preparing cucumber plus 3/4 teaspoon
for seasoning the salad
1 small shallot or 1 large scallion (green onion)
1 tablespoon white vinegar (wine or distilled)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons freshly minced dill (reserving 1 teaspoon of it
for garnish)
1/4 cup crème fraiche, sour cream, or Greek yogurt
Peel cucumbers thinly, leaving some green color. Quarter them
lengthwise. If the seeds are large, cut off and discard seed section. Slice
cucumbers very thinly (a vegetable slicer makes this easier). 20 minutes before
serving time, mix sliced cucumbers with ice cubes, enough water to reach the
surface of the cucumbers, plus 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix together gently and allow
the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Drain well.
Slice shallot or scallion (green part also) very thinly and
add to the cucumber. Add vinegar, sugar, pepper, most of the dill, and 3/4
teaspoon salt. Stir well. Allow to sit at least 10 minutes, stirring
occasionally. Taste for salt and add a little if necessary.
Just before serving, drain away the juices. Add crème
fraiche, sour cream or yogurt and mix in well. Taste and adjust salt, if
necessary. Spoon into a shallow, attractive dish and dust with the reserved
dill.
