It is a smaller variety of the cucumber that has often been pickled (through fermentation with brine) and is often marketed fresh or canned. Sliced, they are common in the burgers, in the preparation of sandwiches and salads. They are also used in the famous tartar sauce. They were pickled for the first time 4,500 years ago in Mesopotamia from where it spread throughout the world by trade routes, reaching China in the second century BC.