Mildly Pickled Cucumbers

Hey guys. I have a question for you. I know that I get the most response to my posts about baked goodies, such as upside down plum cake, carrot cake or New York style cheesecake. And baking is what I enjoy the most. But I also want to write about modern Russian cuisine, with ingredients and processes that are adapted to the US (and international!) audience. I've written about such basics as borsch, eggplant caviar, okroshka, vinegret and yellow pea soup. So my question is: is there anything specific you would like me to write about? A dish you have tasted, an ingredient you have heard about, perhaps I could answer some general questions about what Russians eat? Let me know; it's a lot more fun to talk about something that I know others are interested in.

Anyway... I've been struggling with the name for these "pickles." Because strictly speaking, the cucumbers are not pickled: no acid is used in their preparation. They are brined in a salt-water solution for 24 hours, resulting in mildly salty but crunchy "pickles," without the acidic harshness. This is actually a popular way to cure cucumbers in Russia, especially in the summer, when tiny, fuzzy cucumbers are available in open-air markets and people's backyard or "dacha" (summer home) vegetable gardens.

The favorite way to eat them is with "young" (new) potatoes which are boiled in their paper-thin skins and served with generous amounts of butter, dill and, sometimes, sour cream.

This recipe calls for carbonated (sparkling) water whose tiny bubbles make the pickles especially crunchy. I should credit Russian celebrity blogger Nika Belotserkovskaya for the idea. After trying it, my long quest for the malosolnye ogurtsy was over.

A word about the cucumbers: if at all possible, try to use the smallest ones you can find. Those ginormous thick-skinned wax-covered generously-seeded monsters you see in supermarkets will not work.

Mildly Pickled Cucumbers 
(Malosolnye Ogurtsy)

2 lb (1 kg) small cucumbers
1 bunch (package) fresh dill
1/2 head of garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced cross-wise
4 cups (1 liter) unflavored carbonated water
3 tablespoons salt

Trim the ends off cucumbers. Layer cucumbers, dill and garlic in a glass container. Dissolve salt in water, pour over the cucumbers to cover them completely. Cover and brine in refrigerator at least 24 hours.