Mizeria - Creamy Polish Cucumber Salad

In July and August, your farmers are selling cucumbers fresh off the vine, like these.

This year’s summer harvest has been incredibly bountiful, and there is one crop that is doing exceptionally well in this warm year: cucumbers. You can’t visit the cucumber rows without leaving with an armload. Luckily, we can go through a lot of them at Thimbleberry Farm. Sometimes we’ll just grab one in the middle of a long and hot day of farm work, and enjoy what we call a “hydration stick.” Our favourite way to enjoy them though, is in the classic Polish summer salad: mizeria (pronounced MEE-ZER-YAH).

There are a few variations of this creamy salad. Some recipes call for sour cream, others kefir. Some add sugar or lemon juice. This recipe is simple, and the only variation that I sometimes add is a pinch of fresh dill. Either way, it’s an amazing combination of cool, creamy, fresh, and salty. A tip: prep your cucumbers before you prepare the rest of your meal. The cucumbers will need to sit in salt for a minimum of 20 minutes.

Ingredients

Don’t skip the resting period…It’s important to let the salt draw out some of the water.

• 3 medium-sized field-style cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced (the mandolin works well)

• 1/3 of an onion, very thinly sliced (anywhere between 1/4-1/2 a cup, depending on how much you love onions)

• 1 Tbsp salt

• 1/2 cup whipping (heavy) cream

In a bowl, combine the sliced cucumber, onion, and salt. Combine thoroughly so that the salt is well distributed. Set aside and allow to rest for 20 minutes. This will draw out much of the water, soften the cucumber, and help to infuse the flavours of the vegetables.

Once the rest period is over, drain the cucumbers in a colander. You can taste the cucumber at this point. It should be salty, but if you find in too salty, you can rinse with cold water. Just make sure you drain them well

Once drained, transfer back to the bowl, add cream (and any other variations), and combine. Serve immediately.