Chef Lesia
Buryakovyi Salat (буряковий салат, raw beet salad)
The beet stays raw, so the salad bites back: crimson, garlicky, nutty, slick with green sunflower oil, and ready before the bread is on the table.
Culinary Explorer
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Ohirkovyi Salat (огірковий салат, cucumber-smetana salad)
Created by
Cucumber is mostly water until salt wakes it up. Then it weeps into the bowl, turns greener, tastes louder, and suddenly supper has its cold summer center.
Salads
Ukrainian
Quick Meal
Picnic
Budget Friendly
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•25 min total
Yield6 servings
Cucumber is mostly water until salt wakes it up. Then it weeps into the bowl, turns greener, tastes louder, and suddenly supper has its cold summer center. This is the salad that appears before anyone announces it: beside new potatoes, beside grilled fish, beside bread and tomatoes in the litnya kuhnia, the summer kitchen, where the dill always seems to be too much until it is exactly enough.
The one thing that decides the dish is salting the cucumber first. Not for ceremony. Salt pulls out the thin green water that would loosen the smetana into soup, and it seasons the slices all the way through instead of only on the surface. Aunt Nadia wrote, "leave it till it cries," which is very dramatic for a cucumber, but she was right.
Use cold smetana, a whisper of garlic, black pepper if you like, and more dill than looks sensible. Eat it straight away, while the cream is still thick and the cucumber still snaps under your teeth. This is enough for eight guests or one hungry Ukrainian standing by the bowl with a spoon.
Fresh cucumber salads with smetana belong to Ukraine's summer garden table, especially in regions where cucumbers, dill, and dairy met daily rather than on holidays. The Chernihiv-region town of Nizhyn became famous for cucumbers by the eighteenth century, mostly through brining, but the same crop fed the quick salads of high summer before the jars took over the pantry. The dish is plain on purpose: a seasonal plate, not a lesser one.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small cucumbers or English cucumbers
Quantity
900g or 2 large
thinly sliced
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
cold smetana or full-fat sour cream
Quantity
250g
garlic
Quantity
1 small clove
finely grated
dill
Quantity
1 large bunch
finely chopped
unrefined sunflower oil (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
lemon juice or cucumber brine (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
black pepper (optional)
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small cucumbers or English cucumbersthinly sliced | 900g or 2 large |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon |
| cold smetana or full-fat sour cream | 250g |
| garlicfinely grated | 1 small clove |
| dillfinely chopped | 1 large bunch |
| unrefined sunflower oil (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
| lemon juice or cucumber brine (optional) | 1 teaspoon |
| black pepper (optional) | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •A sharp knife or mandoline
- •A wide mixing bowl
- •A shallow serving bowl
Instructions
- 1
Slice the cucumbers
Slice the cucumbers thinly into rounds or half-moons, depending on their size. If the skins are thick or bitter, peel them in stripes; if they are small and sweet, leave them alone. Put them in a wide bowl where the salt can reach everything.
- 2
Salt until weeping
Sprinkle over the salt and toss with your hands. Leave the cucumbers until they look glossy, darker green, and a little collapsed, with a shallow pool of cucumber water at the bottom of the bowl. They should bend, not break.
This is the step that matters. If you skip it, the smetana thins out and the salad tastes shy. - 3
Drain the bowl
Tip away the cucumber water, then taste one slice. If it is fiercely salty, give the slices a quick rinse and pat them dry; if it tastes seasoned and bright, leave it be. You are listening to the cucumber, not obeying the teaspoon.
- 4
Season the smetana
In a serving bowl, stir the cold smetana with the grated garlic, most of the dill, black pepper, and the sunflower oil if you want that green-gold nutty note. Add the lemon juice or cucumber brine only if the cream tastes flat. It should be cool, tangy, and alive, not sharp.
- 5
Fold and serve
Fold the drained cucumbers through the smetana gently so every slice gets coated. Scatter over the last dill and serve straight away, before the cucumbers start weeping again. Cold bowl, green smell, bread nearby. That's supper.
Chef Tips
- •Small garden cucumbers are best because their seeds are tighter and their flavor is louder. English cucumbers work well too; peel them in stripes if the skin tastes bitter.
- •Greek yogurt makes a sharper, thicker salad, a bit more modern. Loosen it with a spoon of smetana or milk if it grabs too hard at the cucumber.
- •Do not drown it in garlic. One small clove should tap at the door, not take over the house.
- •This salad does not improve overnight. Salt the cucumbers ahead if you must, but fold in the smetana just before eating.
Advance Preparation
- •The cucumbers can be sliced, salted, drained, and chilled up to 2 hours ahead.
- •Stir the smetana dressing separately and keep it cold, then combine just before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 195g)
Calories
135 calories
Total Fat
11 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
25 mg
Sodium
400 mg
Total Carbohydrates
8 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
2 g
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