To think that the center of cucumbers

[NothingIsAsBadAsItSeems]

are vile and should not be put in anything edible? DH thinks this is an unreasonable and unfounded vendetta against a delicious type of salad veg. I think he's a freak and will continue to remove the offending bits before using them.

oh come on now, they are not as bad as they seem

Agreed, vile. I always chop them out.

I can live with cucumbers. Tomato slop, on the other hand, makes me

I think it depends on what you're using them for. Rounds of cucumber are fine with the centre left in. Diced cucumber or cucumber sticks need to have the centre removed or it all goes horribly wrong.

I never remove the seeds and stuff from the centre of tomatoes. Life is too short. I mostly use cherry tomatoes though. I might consider removing the innards of bigger tomatoes, but it would depend on what I was doing. I would never bother for a sauce. I find the tomato slop adds to a salad dressing, while cucumber innards left without a containment device make everything watery.

Vinegar

I don't even like the middle if they are thinly sliced, it's just slimy and bleurgh. Cucumbers have to be sticks and should only ever be dipped into copious amounts of dip

Strangely I'm quite happy to eat tomato innards

But if you don't eat the seeds you can't grow your own cucumber in your stomach, same with tomatoes. The sewage works near where I was brought up was covered in tomato plants, kinda put me off eating them.

YABU the entire of the cucumber is vileness personified - with their weird rubber skins and slimy innards and they smell like putrefying cack.

Don't even get me started on watermelon

YABU. You get the best of both worlds with cucumbers. Hard and crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. Also it's the slimy stuff in the middle that helps soothe eyes after a hard day a work.

Cucumbers are evil. Tomato innards are delicious. And I know about these things.

YANBU, but nobody will ever come to an agreement on this.

This is because there is a chemical in cucumbers that some people cannot detect, but others find tatses revolting.

"Now this is where it gets interesting. Back in 1931, scientists have identified an organic substance Phenylthiocarbamide - often simply called PTC - that either tastes bitter, or is completely tasteless depending on the genetic makeup of the individual."

I think cucumbers taste a bit bitter, but that's quite nice in some things. So I'm not sure it's simply about whether you can taste something or not.

Send them here, it's the only bit of the cucumber DD will eat!

DD's best friend refers to cucumber as "crunchy water".

cucumbers are lovely. Their evil cousins, the courgettes, however... vom

Eating cucumber guarantees a dose of IBS for me. Filthy things.

I remember hearing about that chemical but it was about sprouts. I like cucumbers but have never found sprouts to be "sweet", the bitter little bastards.

Tomato stalks left in are wrong. I even gut plum tomatoes when making pasta sauce.

Fresh cucumber is nice. Cucumber that's been cut a while tastes like the smell of wet dog.
I cut the fibrous central stalk out of tomatoes but leave the slop.
I'd never heard that chemical thing regarding cucumber but have about sprouts and coriander (both rank, coriander is like putting washing up liquid in otherwise tasty food)

When my sister was little she used to eat a whole cucmber a day. When she got appendicitis they said it was probably caused by the seeds. I always chop the middle out. Apparently the Queen has her cucumber middles removed too!

I like fresh crunchy cucumber. They are quite refreshing. When they start to go off and putrify however . Not that I've ever forgotten about one lurking at the back of my fridge. Oh no, not I...

The middle bit is yummy!

Agreed on coriander/washing up liquid. Mustard and capers are also non-food items, occasionaly added to make otherwise nice looking meals inedible.

As for the centre of cucumbers - remove for sticks, leave in for circles. Then again, they're the only veg a friend of mine's DS (a ludicrously picky eater) will eat. He has them peeled and eats them like a banana .

YABU. The centre of cucumbers is just fine. Even better if they're home-grown cucumbers. Although I would remove it if cutting cucumber into sticks - the seedy bit is just too soggy and floppy. I would however just eat it there and then rather than throw it away. Normally though I can't be bothered to cut up cucumber (if it's just for me) and eat it like... well I was going to say an apple but that would imply eating the seedy centre bit core So, I'd eat it like an apple if I were to eat the whole apple, including the core.

Cucumber in gin and tonic is rather splendid.

The centre of cucumber I'd the tastiest bit! Even dd will pick the centres over the crunchy bits (although she does eat both). So it's not just me. YABU