Cukes and Vin

I don't have much of a sweet tooth.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy sweet things. But what I often crave most is bitter and salty. I love salt and vinegar chips, dill pickles, olives, caper berries...things like that.

One of the snacks that I love and rarely have is cucumber and vinegar. (fondly referred to as cukes and vin) This snack goes so far back in my life that I have no idea where it came from. I didn't always like it though. I have memories of sitting on the floor, around a tv in my grandparents basement, with my sisters and cousins watching The Wonderful World of Disney. In front of us would be bowls of cucumber slices, soaking in vinegar. My sister and cousin would be passing a salt shaker back and forth, salting each slice of cucumber before popping it in their mouths. In front of me would always be a bowl of olives.

I always wanted to like cucumber. I loved the vinegar and the salt and the cucumber smelled so good and sounded so crisp and fresh but every time I tried it, I could only eat the thinnest of slices and even then I could only eat 1 or 2. As a teenager, I started forcing myself to eat more cucumber. I so wanted to like it. Really, I think I just wanted an excuse to drink salt and vinegar.

To this day I can only eat cucumber if it is thinly sliced, floating in a bowl of ice cold vinegar with a shaker of salt on the side. I've learned to keep the portions small or else my lips turn white from the vinegar and I start burping these alarmingly frothy burps. I guess this is why it's a snack I rarely have.

But I had it tonight. And it was great.