The History of Cucumbers

Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) are part of the Cucurbitaceae family alongside watermelon, pumpkin, and squash. They are native to India and are considered one of the world’s oldest vegetables. Cave excavations tell us that cucumbers have been grown as a food source for over 3,000 years. Earlier varieties of cucumbers were likely quite bitter, but were otherwise relatively similar to those we consume today. Cucumbers were eaten by the ancient Egyptians, the ancient Greeks, and the ancient Romans; even Charlamagne grew and consumed cucumbers in his gardens in Italy. Cucumbers first spread throughout Western Europe sometime around the 8th or 9th century and were introduced to England during the reign of King Henry VIII, whose Spanish wife, Catherine of Aragon, reportedly craved them for her salads. During the Age of Discovery, cucumbers traveled to the New World with Christopher Columbus and his crew. The crop was first introduced to Haiti and was later cultivated in Florida, the Colonies, and other parts of the Americas and the Caribbean. Fur trappers and traders are thought to have introduced cucumbers to Native Americans. In the 17th century, some physicians even prescribed cucumbers as a way of keeping fever patients cool! For a brief period during the 18th century, cucumbers fell out of favor because some medical journals warned that eating them when not adequately cooked was dangerous, but cucumbers quickly regained their popularity. In 1876, Henry J. Heinz began pickling cucumbers and selling them widely, making pickles a mainstream, highly popular addition to meals in America. Today, cucumbers (and pickles) are still massively popular in the United States and throughout the world and are grown commercially as well as in many home gardens.