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cucumber= hiyar
Apperantly origin of hiyar is still being discussed and the expert authorities still have not reached to a concrete conclusion about this vital important issue:
Some believe it is india (Cucumis sativus hardwickii royle) as they discovered the wild version of hiyars around the himalayas.
But some think that origin of hiyar is wider and it includes chine,india,iran and anatolia.
Apperantly, there are 2 kinds (morpholigically and ecoligically)
east asia, and west asia
east asian types are :falcatus , tuverculatus , vulgatus,tesdudaceus,europaeus ,squammosus ,inde-europeus , sikkimensis hooker
and west asian types: İzmir , cilicicus,anatolicus, anglicus
Apart from above kinds, in Turkey the kinds, people know, are Langa, Maltepe, Çengelköy, Dere and Kilis hiyars.
cengelkoy hiyari (which is quite famous in istanbul and it is only available between 20th june and 10th july)
kilis hiyari
And the legth of hiyars in Turkey are generally around 15-20 cms..(I think cengelkoy hiyari is even smaller)
But when you look at the markets in EU, all hiyars are really big..(God knows why!)
But, of course, you (and everybody) all know that Turkish ones taste better..
When I checked the EU standards for this topic
I concluded that, the shape and the size of hiyars really matters to europeans.
you can see these strangely articulated definitions: be well developed, be well shaped and practically straight (maximum height of the arc: 10 mm per 10 cm of length of the cucumber),500 g or more must be not less than 30 cm long etc
But out of all those items there is only one line regarding the taste (free of bitter taste) which is a huge shame.
And considering turkish hiyars dont comply with eu standars, I think an eu commission needs to look at this issue immedietly!!!
and here we go..a nice finish with a recipie
cacik
Ingredients
2 cups plain yogurt
3 medium cucumber, peeled and diced very small
2 cloves garlic, diced very small
salt
2 tablespoons ground and dried mint
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
Place yoghurt in a large bowl.
Add all other ingredients, except salt and water, and mix thoroughly.
Add water until required consistency is achieved.
Stir in some salt, taste and add more if required.
Chill in refrigerator for about two hours before serving.
sources:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&numdoc=31988R1677&model=guichett&lg=en
http://www.tar-gel.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=28
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yeah.. thanx for this very useful info 