Hungarian Cucumber Salad

Food doesn’t always have to be perfectly healthy. Sometimes it is about remembering, sometimes it is about connecting. This was my favorite salad when I was a kid, in fact it was the only one that I willfully ate. It was always an integral part of the amazing meals my grandma prepared. It traditionally goes with a heavy meal like roast or breaded pork cutlets (our Hungarian version of schnitzel), with mashed potatoes and fresh baked buns. I like to eat it now as a condiment for potatoes, tacos and plain meat, kind of how the Greeks use tatziki. While I sometimes liked to help in the kitchen my favorite spot was at my grandpa’s side, either out in the yard picking fruit or flowers, or inside by the fireplace hearing stories of his homeland and our family before I was around. Most Hungarian families have some version of this salad, always with cucumber and vinegar, sometimes with paprika and sour cream. This is my family’s version and a few generations later, on the other side of the world, I consider it one of the most special dishes I can put on the table.