Garden Kitchen

Watermelon : fact or fiction

(Photo LOF - watermelon harvest)

The portuguese - and the brasilians both say that you should never, ever drink wine when eating  watermelon.
Odd.
And what happens if you do ? Well in the Alentejo everyone and I mean everyone knows that the walls of your intenstines turn into... into? - cork !
You often hear "No thanks no  watermelon I have just had wine" So much for serving watermelon as desert. 
It seems to be especially serious with red wine but then again no one in the Aletejo considers white wine - wine.
Yet in French you can find recipes for watermelon sangria or watermelon soups with red wine.
And as to the famous watermelon.org – THE reference when it comes to watermelon info, they mix watermelon with red wine from Spain, or Port, there is even a list of watermelon wines.
No nutrition expert would think of commenting on this serious subject that divides lusophones and the rest of the world.
Last night we really floated in the pool.

 (Photo LOF - a cross section of an alentejans intestines after drinking red wine and eating watermelon)

Version française

Watermelon with redcurrant syrup

(Photo LOF - Watermelon with redcurrant syrup)

Place a watermelon on the table and close your eyes.
In your minds eye are children playing in the sun.
Watermelons cry out for recipes that remind you of your childhood. the colour of candy apples, the smell of merry-go-rounds...
Portugal (southern) has, in this area a number of advantages : you can grow excellent watermelons and there exists a national monument to taste and smell : redcurrant syrup (Xarope Groselha) de Neto Costa.
This syrup is immediately identified by all children as good to drink.
(Photo LOF - Redcurrant syrup)

Cut the watermelon into bite size cubes, add a dollop of redcurrant syrup.
To make an after nap snack : put the salad bowl into a larger bowl filled with cool water or ice cubes, cover with a white cloth, place next to the hammock in the shade.
« When my maternal grandfather was still alive, he always had magnificient watermelons in the kitchen garden of the house I live in now. To cool the watermelons, we'd put them in a bucket and lower them into the well. Good memories... »  Elvira 

Version française

Growing watermelons

(Photo LOF, random slice of homegrown watermelon / t=0)

Is it worth it to grow your own watermelons?
Most commercial watermelons have everything but taste.
Is it the same for homegrown watermelons?
Two possible methodologies :
  - comparative tasting in double blind randomized trials- Method rejected because its stupid : its much nicer when you can see what you're eating. Waterleons are pretty. 
  - opnion survey : Accepted method.
Each guest gets a watermelons ripe, fresh from the garden, without selecting varities beforehand (tested with 6 different varieties) random distribution.
Then we try to find out if they were better than supermarket watermelons. 
  - 1st reaction : everybody finds them heavy to carry.
  - 2nd reaction : everybody is happy, nowadays watermelons are expensive. 
  Survey results : 
     No opinion : 0%. 
     In anycase they all taste like water : 0% 
    Stuffed themselves while saying « this watermelon is really good, much better than the ones you can buy » : 100%
Nota : Paulo ate Ninas watermelon, Horatio said "not only are they good but they're enormous". "They're sweeter" (Eliezer), "they're really tasty " (Ricardo), "they're really good (muito bom)" (Bela).
Conclusion : This scientific study shows that you should definitely grow your own watermelons or get a friend to grow them for you. 
You need a rich soil and daily watering.

(Photo LOF, random slice of homegrown watermelon / t0 + 10')

Version française

How to keep your watermelons

 
(Photo LOF - Early watermelon variety Sugar dragon –  Technisem « Tropica »)

Watermelons don't have a really strong flavour,but they are so sweet you can eat them anytime 
In fact they have a tendancy to compensate for their lack of flavour by taking on the flavour of anything near by.
Never keep an open watermelon near onions, garlic or cabbage. It will taste more like its neigbour than its self.
In the refrigerater always cover a cut watermelon with plastic wrap... or an even better solution - eat it all- right away.
Some watermelons can weigh up to 50kg, so Syngenta  has created a mini watermelon « Solinda ».
A commercial sucess in Switzerland where its known as the watermelons for singles.
No seeds, small, 2,5 kg easy to fit in the refrigerater. In short its been tamed - an urban watermelon.
But what is more fun in the summer than seed spitting contests when you are eating giant watermelon slices ? 

 
(Photo LOF -  Logone watermelon : Mother looking after new born baby- just a few days old)

Version française