Recipe for "cuke-chunks"

NAME

     CUKE-CHUNKS - A very sweet cucumber pickle
     My wife's grandmother provided us with this wonderful pickle
     recipe.

INGREDIENTS (Serves many)

     10        cucumbers, not too fat
     800 g     sugar
     30 ml     pickling spice (see note)
     25 ml     salt (noniodized salt is best)
     1 liter   vinegar

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Wash cucumbers and place in large pot. Pour  boil-
               ing  water  over cucumbers until they are covered.
               Let stand for 24 hours and then drain. Repeat this
               procedure  for  three (3) days. The cucumbers will
               be rather slimy after this.  This is normal.
          (2)  On the fourth day drain and slice  into  bite-size
               chunks.  If the cucumbers are fat you can halve or
               quarter the chunks so you end  up  with  bite-size
               pieces.
          (3)  Combine the remaining ingredients.  Bring  mixture
               to  a  boil, stirring frequently. Pour cooked mix-
               ture over the cucumber pieces.
          (4)  Return to a boil, but just a boil.  Do  not  cook.
               Pour  cucumbers  and  liquid  mixture into canning
               jars and seal. Jars should be sealed in a  boiling
               water bath for 10 minutes.

NOTES

     These are best if they sit for a month or so after  canning,
     to give them time to work. If you use iodized salt, they are
     more likely to get cloudy during that month.
     If your grocery does not sell premixed "pickling spice" mix-
     tures,  try  various  combinations  of mustard seeds, celery
     seeds,  coriander,  dill,  or  any  other  strongly-flavored
     spices that you like.
     We increase this recipe by several times. Last year we  used
     about 200 cucumbers.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time: 4 days of soaking. About 1-2  hours
     of real work.  Precision: Approximate measure ok.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Jim Roche
     University of Rochester, Computer Science Department
     roche@cs.rochester.edu        rochester!roche