Gherkin

The gherkin is a fruit similar in form and nutritional value to a cucumber

Cucumber

The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...

. Gherkins and cucumbers belong to the same species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 (Cucumis sativus), but are from different cultivar

Cultivar

A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...

 groups.

They are usually picked when 4 to 8 cm (1 to 3 in) in length and pickled

Pickling

Pickling, also known as brining or corning is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine to produce lactic acid, or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar . The resulting food is called a pickle. This procedure gives the food a salty or sour taste...

 in jars or cans with vinegar

Vinegar

Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...

 (often flavored with herbs, particularly dill

Dill

Dill is a perennial herb. It is the sole species of the genus Anethum, though classified by some botanists in a related genus as Peucedanum graveolens C.B.Clarke.-Growth:...

; hence, "dill pickle") or brine

Brine

Brine is water, saturated or nearly saturated with salt .Brine is used to preserve vegetables, fruit, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining . Brine is also commonly used to age Halloumi and Feta cheeses, or for pickling foodstuffs, as a means of preserving them...

 to resemble a pickled cucumber

Pickled cucumber

A pickled cucumber is a cucumber that has been pickled in a brine, vinegar, or other solution and left to ferment for a period of time, by either immersing the cucumbers in an acidic solution or through souring by lacto-fermentation.-Gherkin:A gherkin is not only...

. Most gherkins used in the United States are made into the sweet variety, the small tasty kind commonly seen on Thanksgiving relish trays in the US, along with baby corn.

The term can also be used to refer to the West Indian Burr Gherkin

Cucumis anguria

Cucumis anguria, also called the West Indian Gherkin, Burr Gherkin, Burr Cucumber, or maxixe, and locally known as badunga or cohombro, is a vine grown for its fruit used as a vegetable. It is similar and related to the common cucumber Cucumis anguria, also called the West Indian Gherkin, Burr...

 (Cucumis anguria), a related species, originally from West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

 and introduced to the West Indies, probably by the Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

. The Burr Gherkin, or badunga, cannot interbreed with the aforementioned Gherkin. It is edible and may be pickled, but must be picked when no longer than 4 centimetres (1.6 in) long, since it becomes bitter and spiny if allowed to grow larger.

Pickled gherkins are served to accompany other foods, often in sandwich

Sandwich

A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...

es. They were associated with Central European and, occasionally, Eastern European cuisine, but are now found more widely. Sometimes also called a cornichon (the French word for gherkin), they have historically also been called horned cucumbers, crumplings, and guerkins. The gherkins sold in pickle mixtures are not C. anguria but rather are small pickled immature fruits of cultivars of the cucumber (C. sativus). A true gherkin has palmately lobed leaves with toothed edges, small flowers, and furrowed, prickly fruits about five centimetres (two inches) long that are borne on crooked stalks. Although its fruit is also pickled, the plant is frequently grown only as a curiosity.