Once available only at the best-stocked farmers markets, different types of cucumbers are showing up at co-ops and grocery stores (not to mention garden patches). Here's a guide to some cucumber varieties - Armenian, English, lemon, Persian - you may encounter and and a few ideas on how to use them.
You may also want to check out All About Cucumbers for more about buying, storing, and using these cooling summer vegetables, or these Crisp Cucumber Salads for quick ways to enjoy cucumbers of all sorts.
Armenian Cucumbers
Photo © Molly Watson
Armenian cucumbers are long, thin, and slightly variegated in darker and lighter shades of light green or a yellowish-green. They are delightfully crunchy and are delicious simply sliced and eaten raw. They have very soft seeds and a thin skin, requiring neither seeding nor peeling for eating. They are not good for pickling.
English Cucumbers
English cucumbers (a.k.a. hot house cucumbers) are long, thin, with a dark green skin. They are often sold wrapped in plastic at supermarkets, but you can find unwrapped ones at farmers markets (despite their alias, these cucumbers do not require a hot house or plastic wrap to grow). This cucumber has a mild, almost non-existent flavor, and is prized for its thin skin and minimal seeds. Like Armenian cucumbers, English cucumbers are best sliced and raw and are not good for pickling.Garden Cucumbers
Photo © Molly Watson
These are the most common cucumbers in North America. They are relatively smooth skinned and dark green. Cucumbers sold at grocery stores tend to be waxed to help them retain moisture, which is part of why these cucumbers tend to need peeling. Un-waxed varieties can be found (particularly at farmers markets), but you may still want to peel them if the skin is thick or bitter.
Kirby Cucumbers
Photo © Molly Watson
Kirby cucumbers are short and bumpy. They have a range of skin color from yellow to dark green. Kirbys are nice and crunchy for eating raw, but flavorful enough to be perfect for pickling too.
Lemon Cucumbers
Photo © Molly Watson
Yellow, round, the size of a generous fist. Yep, these cucumbers look like lemons (seriously, that is a picture of cucumbers, lemon cucumbers, not lemons). They are sweet, without that bitter edge that most cucumbers have, thin skins, minimal soft seeds, and flavorful. They are tasty raw, but make delicious pickles too.
