Let’s Talk Food: Juicy watermelon perfect for summer fiestas

No late summer picnic or backyard barbecue would be complete without that tantalizing, refreshing and healthful watermelon.

While selecting a luscious, juicy watermelon for any summer celebration, stop and extend a moment of gratitude to Dr. David Livingston of “Dr. Livingston, I presume?” fame. Until a little over 100 years ago, the watermelon was believed to be native to Asia. It was Dr. Livingston, the great missionary and explorer who found large tracts of wild watermelons growing in Central Africa. Authorities have now established Africa as its place of origin.

However, some historians think they may have originated in America, making them a New World Crop. The early French explorers were said to have found Indians growing watermelons in the Mississippi Valley and believed they had cultivated them for centuries.

In many arid parts of the world, watermelon is an important source of water. In other countries, it is a staple food and used as livestock feed. The watermelon belongs to the gourd family, and its cousins include muskmelons, cucumbers and squash. Its beginnings go back to prehistoric times. The scientific name is Citrulluslanatus, part of the cucurbitacae family.

King Tut was a watermelon maven and his fellow Egyptians prized the fruit so much they decorated wall caves and tombs with watermelon paintings that go back more than 5,000 years. There are references to watermelon in Arabic and Sanskrit writings.

During the 10th century the Chinese began growing watermelons, and in the 13th century the Moors introduced watermelon to southern Europe. Watermelon arrived in the New World with the Spanish and later the African slaves brought seeds with them from their native land. Early European explorers also brought seeds to Brazil and the West Indies.

Watermelons are grown in 44 states, with California, Florida, Texas, Georgia and Arizona ranking as the country’s leading watermelon producers. The United States ranks fourth in world watermelon production behind China, Turkey and Iran. They are grown in 90 countries on five continents. Watermelons grown in the United States are exported to Canada, which consumes about 98 percent of the export market, followed by Japan, Mexico, Russia, Bermuda and France.

The watermelon is a versatile and healthful fruit. It contains very few calories, no fat, and the red, juicy heart can be consumed and relished by kids and grown-ups alike. Then, if you’re an enterprising and creative cook, the rind is then turned into one of the most delicious, spicy condiments — watermelon pickles.

The first cookbook to be published in colonial America, in 1796, contained a recipe for watermelon pickles. Although southerners maintain this delicacy originated below the Mason-Dixie Line, I have it on good authority (food historian John Martin Taylor) that the method of pickling watermelon rind was brought to Charleston, South Carolina, by early Greek settlers. Others maintain it was the Chinese who first thought of preserving the rind in syrup. But never mind who originated this toothsome delight that transforms ordinary fried chicken, roast beef or barbecued pork into ambrosial offerings.

The Storters were one of the early pioneering families in the region. Callie Storter was a superb cook and this recipe is one she gave me many years ago:

CALLIESTORTER’S WATERMELON PICKLES

10 pounds watermelon rind, white part only, peeled and cut in cubes

1 quart white vinegar

12 pounds sugar

40 drops oil of cloves

40 drops oil of cinnamon

Boil rind in water until tender. Rinse rind and drain overnight. Mix sugar, vinegar and the drops of cloves and cinnamon and pour over rind. Allow to sit for 24 hours until sugar dissolves. Boil for 15 minutes and then place in jars and seal while hot.

MEXICAN WATERMELON HORS D’OEUVRE

Friends in San Miguel, Mexico invited me for a buffet dinner and served this spicy and interesting hors d’oeuvre.

1 cup lime juice

1 teaspoon tequila or more if preferred

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce or more if you really like it hot

5 pounds ripe watermelon, cut into cubes

Mix lime juice, tequila, salt and hot pepper sauce in a small bowl suitable for dipping the cubes. Taste for seasoning. Pile the cubed watermelon on a platter with skewers for each person to use to dip into the lime juice mixture. Serves 6.

Note: You might wish to serve 2 bowls of juice; one medium and one very hot to suit individual tastes.

Doris Reynolds is the author of “Let’s Talk Food” and “When Peacocks Were Roasted and Mullet Was Fried.” And a four-part DVD, “A Walk Down Memory Lane with Doris Reynolds They are available for sale in the lobby of the Naples Daily News. For information and comments on today’s column, contact Doris Reynolds at foodlvr25@aol.com.