Being a Jadrool can be a good thing: green cucumber sauce for fish

When Annalena was much younger - yes, centuries ago - one of the ways we would insult each other, would be to call each other "jadrools."  Annalena never knew what this meant, but she knew it was a  BAD thing.  A funny thing.  Interestingly, it was almost always men calling men jadrools. Sometimes,  a woman - you know, of "that kind" , would call a man  the word, but ladies NEVER used it on each other.  Interesting, don't you think, especially ...
since jadrool is a southern Italian dialectical word for cedriolo - a cucumber.  Indeed, it was an insult to call someone a cucumber - it did NOT mean he was endowed; rather, it meant he was essentially an empty, stupid worthless person.  And that is the reputation of cucumbers, at least amongst nutritionists.  There are , apparently, no nutrients in cucumbers - NONE.  They ARE low in calories, but for many people, eating cucumbers is akin to eating beans, or cabbage or , well.  you get the idea. 
Fact is, however, we LIKE cucumbers.  People eat them all the time.  Annalena fears that mostly they are eaten as dip carriers, or as pickles,  but maybe there are those of you out there, who will say "I LOVE cucumbers.  I eat them all the time."  Indeed, Annalena does.  She tries to eat her other, "better" vegetables and save the cucumbers for garnishes and salads (anyone who is eating green salad for nutrients should look elsewhere),  but she LOVES her cucumbers.  They do seem to have a residual "coolness" about them.  You have, of course, heard "cool as a cucumber?"    And out of American cooking culture, cucumbers are used in cooked form, be they cold or hot.  Annalena remembers an amazing dish of cold jelly fish and cucumbers with peppers and peanuts, from her Asian studies days, and also, most recently, an amazing cold cucumber soup at Hearth, which almost brought her to her knees .  ALMOST. 

And add to that something her buddy Justin made for her at Il buco Alimentari:  a crudo (which is essentially Italian sashimi) of yellowfin tuna, and a cold cucumber sauce.  It was amazing.

And not being one to leave things alone, Annalena decided to make her own cucumber sauce, for her own tuna.    It is good.  No, ragazzi, it is VERY good.  And while Annalena used it on grilled tuna, if you are partial to salmon (Annalena is not),  get yourself some wild fish (copper river salmon has JUST come into season), poach it, or roast it, and serve it cold, with this sauce (cold, because here in NY, we are having a heat index of about 100, and Annalena is ready to melt like her sister the Wicked Witch of the West).

This recipe is, ultimately, a lesson in how to improvise.  Annalena had a "taste" in her mouth, and went about creating it.  You can and should be doing the same thing.

Let us begin. Let's start with 7-8 kirby cucumbers.  Cut them into rough pieces, because you're going to blend them.  Have ready a quarter cup of water, and a small handful of herbs.

Why is Annalena not specifying the herbs?  Because she wants you to improvise.  When you design your own recipe, think of the taste of your main ingredient (and if you don't know the taste of that ingredient, you really should be making something else).  Now, think what would go well with it.  To Annalena, cucumbers bring up thoughts of mint, lemon, dill, and tarragon. Also lemon and lime, and ginger.  So, she went to her rooftop garden and picked a few leaves each of lemon verbena , peppermint, dill,  and tarragon.  There were probably not more than 1/4 cup of herbs.  This all went into the blender, with the cucumbers and the water, and pureed, until there was a smooth, beautiful pale green sauce in that container.  A taste revealed:  SALT.  DESPERATELY IN NEED OF SALT.  So , in it went.

Something was  still missing. Go back:  lemon, lime, ginger.  Well, lemon was there in the form of the lemon verbena,  but ginger?  Hmmmm.  Annalena had a jar of pickled ginger from her favorite fancy food store, and rather than used the ginger itself  (which she began to eat as she went along), she poured some of the liquid into the blender.  If you are not fortunate enough to "happen to have"  pickled ginger in the house, then put in a coin or two of fresh ginger, peeled, and process it again.  And again, taste.

At this point, it was fine for Annalena's purpose, which was to pour on a one minute grilled tuna steak.  But if you're looking for a different flavor, please go and add , subtract or substitute. 

It's very pretty, and if you go back and read things:  no fat, and essentially, nothing with calories.  So use a lot of it.  Use a lot of it because this sauce will not keep well, and certainly will not keep the pretty green color.

When you make it the first time, you will probably want to make it again, especially if you favor salmon. Green and pink remind Annalena of spring.  And when we're feeling 100 degrees of temperature, and humidity, and wanting to change clothes every three hours,  what could be nicer, or cooler, than to think of early spring?