Sweating cucumber

I don't think the water is absorbed. The salt draws out the water by osmosis so that the cucumber is "dryer". You do the same with aubergine. I didn't think you put it in eater though, just salt.

I am not sure WHY he wants to draw out the cucumber water, but I'm sure he has a good reason.

Maybe I've got the water bit wrong but def lots of salt! Had a quick trawl on Internet and it looks as if he's trying to make Gurkensalat. As he's German it's probably a dish he had as a child. Not good for 89 year old....mind you, as he says to his diabetic nurse, if he can't have a couple of cans of beer on a Friday night at his age then when can he have them?! Same probably applies to the salt.

I used to pickle cucumbers ~ and the first step was soaking them in a salt and water mixture. Then they were left to dry before putting in a spiced vinegar. VERY nice and certainly didn't taste salty.

An occasional dish with a lot of salt in it will not do anybody any harm. It is consuming lots of salt in your diet, day in, day out that does the damage and even then, for most of us, the over consumption will cause us no discernable damage in our lifetime.

In the days when I used to make pickled onions it was usual to soak them in brine for 24 hours so they would stay crisp and not soften in the vinegar. This is the same principle.

I remember that, annsixty I've not pickled onions for years, they always tasted much better than the acid ones from the supermarket.

I do the sweating in salt (not brine) when I make Bread & Butter Pickle. Leaving the veg. mix in salt for 24 hrs draws out the water, which keeps the crunch. The mix is rinsed very thoroughly several times and drained, before continuing with the pickling. The finished pickle is not salty.
It's a family favourite, and I make it every summer.