Cucumber salad

Eating cucumbers in Mediterranean countries can be a shock: so that is how they are supposed to taste! You realise that most of the ones available at home offer the gustatory equivalent of shadows on the walls of caves. They have to be livened up a little.

I usually sprinkle salt over the cut cucumber chunks, and leave them in a colander to sweat for 30 minutes or so. Then I squeeze them gently in paper towels, and mix them with a little -- roughly a dstsp for half a cucumber -- vinegar, which seems to bring out the sweetness of the vegetable. You can add pepper if you like, and any herbs you think appropriate -- dill would give the dish a Scandinavian flavour.