Quick pickling: Zane Grēviņa’s tips and a recipe for salted gherkins

Rimi taste guide Zane Grēviņa, also known as Našķoties Zane, has shared ways to give cucumbers a bold character in a short time. She says there is no single right way to quickly marinate cucumbers: they can be used whole, with ends removed, smashed, cut into ribbons, slices, halves or quarters. The chosen cut affects both how quickly they become ready and how they are best used later.

According to Grēviņa, marinated cucumbers are not only for serving next to potatoes and a pork chop. Depending on the size of pieces and the spices used, they also fit into salads, poke bowls, sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, bagels, spicy soups, fish and meat dishes, and are especially good with grilled food.

Time is the main thing to watch. The longer cucumbers stay in the marinade, the more flavour nuances disappear and the more dominant garlic becomes. She warns against over-marinating. Thin ribbons are ready in 15–30 minutes, smashed cucumbers in half an hour to an hour, and 1 cm thick slices in about an hour. Thicker slices take two to four hours, quarters and halves should be left overnight, and whole cucumbers need a full day.

If cucumbers have become slightly limp, they can be refreshed in cold water before marinating. The marinade itself should not be hot, otherwise the cucumbers lose their crunch. Overgrown cucumbers that are not bitter can be made crunchier by partially peeling them and leaving a few green strips.

Grēviņa advises adding some sweetness – honey or sugar – to any marinade and making sure it is dissolved. She names several favourite combinations: the classic vinegar, water, sugar, salt, black pepper, garlic and plenty of dill; rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar or honey, salt, sesame seeds and chives; lemon zest, olive oil, chopped parsley, salt and pepper; lime juice and zest, chilli, olive oil, honey and salt; apple cider vinegar, honey, wholegrain mustard, salt and pepper; and ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, sugar or honey and chilli.

Her recipe for home-style salted gherkins calls for 1 kg of small cucumbers, 800 ml of boiling water, 7 garlic cloves, 2 large handfuls of fresh dill, 2 tablespoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Dissolve the salt and sugar in boiling water, add the chopped dill. Cut off the ends of the cucumbers, pack them tightly in the marinade and push garlic cloves in between. The gherkins taste best if left overnight to absorb the flavours.