Can I use Marketmore cucumbers as Gherkins

[Jimmy]

I usually grow Marketmore outside.
Can they be used as Gherkins or do you need a Gherkin variety.
Thanks
Jimmy

[Alison]

Sorry, don't understand what you mean as "used as Gherkins", if you mean can you pickle them etc then yes, no problems at all. I often do this.

[Jimmy]

But will Marketmore work if picked small
Anyone used Marketmore as Gherkins ?

[Alison]

Still not sure I really understand what you're asking but can't see any reason why you can't pick any type of cucumber or gherkin when small, they're basically the same thing just a different type cultivar and we usually eat them unripe anyway. What do you want to do with the Marketmore that you would usually do with a gherkin?

[bretty666]

Hi..i have read many times that there is no such vegetable as a gherkin...a gherkin is just a pickled cucumber..i have bought cucumbers again this year after last years excellent results.im not sure what variety i got though...just pick when they are at the size you like¿ i like the german big ones

[Alison]

Hi..i have read many times that there is no such vegetable as a gherkin...a gherkin is just a pickled cucumber..i have bought cucumbers again this year after last years excellent results.im not sure what variety i got though...just pick when they are at the size you like¿ i like the german big ones

From the internet "Gherkins and commercial cucumbers belong to the same species (Cucumis sativus), but are from different cultivar groups."

[WilliamD]

If I remember rightly from my Marketmores last year, when small they were very spiny with the prickles quite prominent. Only when they grew quite a bit larger did the flesh fill out and they become smooth. I think that might be one difference between them and a traditional gherkin variety, which appear to be smooth when small. So I don't think I'd fancy Marketmores picked and pickled when small to be honest.

P.S. There was a free pack of Gherkin seeds (Cornichon de Paris) in the April issue of GYO - the issue that came with six free seed packets.

[bretty666]

The french gherkins are nobbly bobbly?

[WilliamD]

Au contraire :-) I think the French ones, being touted as proper gherkins, will be nice and smooth when petite. It's our English ones (Marketmore) that are like eating a hedgehog when they're small.

[bretty666]

Iv been living in france for ten years now and the only big ones i buy come from lidl...the french ones are the little nobbly ones...maybe google cornichon and see what it comes up with?? They are tiddly aswell!!!!

[Alison]

Au contraire :-) I think the French ones, being touted as proper gherkins, will be nice and smooth when petite. It's our English ones (Marketmore) that are like eating a hedgehog when they're small.

I'd call Marketmore a ridge cucumber to be honest anyway (oh and I think that most gherkins are nobbly too)

[WilliamD]

I'll stand corrected - I thought gherkins were smooth-ish.
Isn't 'ridge' a reference to growing them in ridged rows rather than their shape? (just curious)

[bretty666]

I think its safe to say we dont know too much about gherkins lol!!! I dont know about your ridge question????

[Alison]

I'll stand corrected - I thought gherkins were smooth-ish.
Isn't 'ridge' a reference to growing them in ridged rows rather than their shape? (just curious)

Kind of but it does tend to be a generic term for the more traditional rougher skinned outdoor type cucumbers that you can still use raw in a salad.


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[Jimmy]

Thanks for the replies.
I was buying seeds on eBay and spotted
CUCUMBER - GHERKIN - PICCOLO DI PARIGI - 50 SEEDS
Which seemed to fit the bill !

I will see what happens.

Jimmy