This salad is a nice treat on a hot day or works just fine at other times as well. Because it is a light pickle, it works very well for picnics and potlucks where refrigeration can be an issue. It can also easily be done a bit ahead for feasts. We nearly forgot to serve it at our Roman Feast as it was chilling out of sight in the fridge but found it made a wonderful palate cleanser between courses.

1 cucumber

6 fresh mint leaves
1/4cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp fish sauce (available in the Asian section) Or substitute salt to taste.

Pepper to taste
 

Slice washed cucumber thinly. ( I like to leave the peel on for this recipe but you could just as easily choose to peel it.  Or slice it thicker or even chop it into chunks as you like.)
Stack mint leaves one on top of the other and roll into a tight cigar shape and slice across into thin shreds. This technique is called chiffonade.
Combine all ingredients and let marinate at least an hour, serve chilled or at room temp.
4-6 servings

This recipe comes from the Roman cookbook known as de re coquinaria commonly attributed to Apicius.  I won't go into all the various arguments as where and when these recipes came from as this website is more about making the food than literary research. I generally work from the Vehling translation, acknowledged  not the best, but readily available as a reprint from Dover Press.  Vehling's translation:

[84] Another Cucumber Recipe
Aliter Cucumeres
Cucumbers, Pepper, Pennyroyal, honey or condensed must, broth and vinegar; Once in a while one adds silphium

This dish was served at our Candlemas Cena

Other Roman recipes on this site:

• Carrots Apician 
• Hazelnut Saffron Sauce
• Herbed Barley
• Melon Salad 
• Mushroom Patina
• Parsnips Apician
• Roman Sausages with spelt and pine nuts.
• Sauce a la Matius

Other cold salad dishes

• Lentil Cucumber Salad
• Marinated Mushrooms ala May
• Onions in Sauce
• Pickled Root Vegetables

Other Vegetable Recipes

• Armored Turnips
• Chard Pie
• Genovese Tart