Here's how to cut a cucumber like a pro

Made up of 95% water, cucumber is undoubtedly the star of sunny days. An ultra-refreshing vegetable, it is generally eaten raw and fits into all kinds of recipes: spring appetizers, salads, cold soups, cocktails, or gourmet verrines.

The correct cutting of the cucumber

Basic rules

Once the cucumber has been rinsed under cold water, peel it lengthwise using a peeler. You can slide the peeler towards you, or conversely, peel towards the outside. It's up to you to choose the direction that seems easiest to you.

You can also keep the skin and cut the vegetable directly. Contrary to popular belief, the latter facilitates digestion and increases the fiber and vitamin intake of the food, so no reason to worry at this level.

The different cuts of the cucumber

Cutting into slices, the simplest, consists of simply slicing the cucumber into slices using a knife. We hold it on the board by holding it with one hand, and we cut it using the second. This makes it easier to choose the thickness of the washers. This is a very easy to reproduce cut, which adapts to all kinds of recipes and fits easily into spring salads or sandwiches.

To obtain sticks, we start by cutting the cucumber widthwise, into sections of 4 to 5 cm. We then cut these into regular slices, which we cut again in the other direction so as to obtain small sticks of equal size.

To cut into dice (or cubes), simply overlap these sticks and cut again in the opposite direction. We love the sticks as an aperitif, to be dipped in a choice of sauce like homemade mayonnaise, or even in the heart of multicolored spring rolls. The cubes, for their part, know no limits, and are perfect for both a Moroccan salad and a homemade ceviche, for example.

Cut the cucumber into spaghetti using a vegetable razor lengthwise. We repeat the action going around until the slats become too small. Cucumber spaghetti fits perfectly into a dish of pasta with sauce, or as a decoration for a refreshing spring starter.

In a semi-circle, cut the cucumber in half lengthwise before removing the seeds using a spoon. Finally, we cut each half into more or less thin slices depending on the desired size. Not a bad way to enhance your cocktails and cold drinks, right?

To obtain sections with a hollow center, cut the cucumber into sections of approximately 5 cm, without having removed the skin. We then empty each section with a Parisian apple spoon, taking care not to pierce the bottom. This way, you can garnish your cucumber with all kinds of stuffing, an ideal option for a quick, fresh spring appetizer!

100% fresh recipes

Now that its cutting no longer holds any secrets for you, here are 20 cucumber recipes that are absolutely delicious.