In defense of Cucumber, I've been a rails developer for more than 2 years and I still find it easier to read English than Ruby. I think the extra layer of abstraction is well worth the effort when reading over other people's tests.
visit "/special_recipes/new"
fill_in "special_recipe[name]", :with => "Pie"
select "Test User", :from => "special_recipe[user_id]"
click_button "Create Special Recipe"