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DEL.ICIO.USWatermelon Diaries
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WATERMELON ROCKS
Photo: Bob Fila/MCT
To heck with soft shell crabs and fiddle head ferns. The first of June marks the (un)official advent of watermelon season for me.
My coworkers are convinced that I subsist on nothing more than watermelon and chocolate (except for when dining out) and for the most part, they aren’t wrong. Every day I head for Michael’s, a lunch spot across the street from the AJC’s building downtown, for my daily dose of of the fleshy pink stuff.
At Beleza this past Saturday, chef Ken Bouche served buttery tuna ahi on skewers with a cube of incredibly ripe watermelon and habanero chili oil. It was like a sweet firecracker went off in my mouth. I’m also starting to see the fruit dressed with goat cheese or made into sorbet. I plan to gorge on it until the season ends in September.
Do you have a favorite way to eat watermelon? Is there a favorite watermelon dish you like? Or do you just like it sliced and diced?
Coming Wednesday: My five fave picks for the best fries in Atlanta.
Permalink | Comments (21) | Post your comment | Categories: Dining
Comments
By T
June 3, 2008 8:27 AM | Link to this
Ok.
By scott
June 3, 2008 9:08 AM | Link to this
in the backyard, on newspaper, with salt. what fun seed spitting contest are!
By Stacey
June 3, 2008 9:10 AM | Link to this
As a kid, we ate 1/2 moon slices sprinkled with salt. As an adult, I just cut it into chunks and eat it (fork optional). It has to be ice cold, though.
Kind of OT, but what secrets do everyone use to determine if a whole watermelon is ripe? I grew up in the country and some people said to look for a dead (dried) stem where the melon was pulled from the vine. My mother said that you should look for a white bottom because that means the melon was allowed to ripen in the field. Neither of those methods has proven to be foolproof for me. Also, is there any way of telling a yellow meat watermelon from red?
By andthensome
June 3, 2008 9:13 AM | Link to this
A big slice on a plate, over newspaper, preferably outside. And with my hands. No salt, please! Why mess up perfection?
By Syena
June 3, 2008 9:27 AM | Link to this
I left Georgia at age 12,and Im now 65.My uncle Charlie Goodman used to grow these huge red and yellow meat melons.I couldnt wait to get to his farm soon as school let out.Id roam through the fields all day and sit and eat one of each each day.This is what Ive daydreamed about each time I`ve eaten what they call watermelon,nort of the Mason/Dixie line.I like the heart.
By lea
June 3, 2008 9:40 AM | Link to this
I love watermelon all sorts of ways— it’s my favorite fruit of all. Sliced, diced, chunks, on the rind, salted, unsalted. I also love watermelon lemonade and my version of a non-alcoholic watermelon margarita— chunks of seedless watermelon blended with a couple tablespoons sugar, tablespoon of lime juice, and lots of ice. There’s no better way to while away a summer night outside on the deck. Yum!
By Drunkenmelon
June 3, 2008 9:58 AM | Link to this
Lay the watermelon on its side - cut a few holes in the top - into one hole, slowly add some vodka; into another, some rum; into another, some southern comfort and let all of these soak in. Add more after it all soaks in. Put the plugs back in and let it sit for a few days, adding more libations as necessary. Slice and dice on the third day and enjoy your cocktail.
By Ed
June 3, 2008 10:17 AM | Link to this
I like it cold on a hot southern summmer day and I like it to drip on my tee shirt and I like to spit the seeds as far as I can. Yep, I like it today just the way I liked it as a kid.
By jj
June 3, 2008 10:33 AM | Link to this
This is a racist article!
By tiff
June 3, 2008 10:39 AM | Link to this
Dang—Blasted AJC. Why did you put watermelon into my head. Now I have to go to Publix for lunch to get watermelon. Already cut in chunked. Just like I like it. Salt it a bit. Go to Publix-get watermelon.
Go to Publix get watermelon. Go to Publix get watermelon. Go to Publix get watermelon. Go to Publix get watermelon. Go to Publix get watermelon.
By Corkie
June 3, 2008 10:46 AM | Link to this
Good Grief!!!! How in the world could this blog be considered racist? Get a life and move along! Ridiculous!
By Nodnarb
June 3, 2008 10:52 AM | Link to this
I like to eat my watermelon with fried chicken, greens, and Kool-Aid.
By Becky
June 3, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this
How can this blog be racist? jj, please grow up & get a life, or just sit at home & feel sorry for yourself..By the way folks, this doesn’t sound like the real JJ..
By Noelle
June 3, 2008 11:03 AM | Link to this
My family has a cookout for July 4th each year, and one of the most important traditions is putting the watermelon in the pool. No, really; the kids play with it while swimming all day, and by the time we’re ready to eat mid-afternoon, the melon is perfectly chilled. We just give it a good rinse to clean off the chlorine, then cut it into half-moon slices and make as much mess as possible eating it. Salt is optional.
By Noelle
June 3, 2008 11:06 AM | Link to this
My family has a cookout for July 4th each year, and one of the most important traditions is putting the watermelon in the pool. No, really; the kids play with it while swimming all day, and by the time we’re ready to eat mid-afternoon, the melon is perfectly chilled. We just give it a good rinse to clean off the chlorine, then cut it into half-moon slices and make as much mess as possible eating it. Salt is optional.
By WarmWater
June 3, 2008 11:11 AM | Link to this
Hey, Noelle - knowing what kids do in a pool - you may have to rinse off more than just chlorine!
By Pool Boy
June 3, 2008 11:16 AM | Link to this
Ewwwwww! Don’t eat the rind!
By g8trh8tr
June 3, 2008 1:42 PM | Link to this
Noelle, we used to do the same thing except instead of a pool, we’d put it in the cool water of the Ohoopee River down in Emanuel Co. Nothing like sitting on the banks of the river eating cool watermelon on a hot day.
By leghumper
June 3, 2008 7:49 PM | Link to this
as a bible thumper I must protest the use of watermelon with alcohol and unprotected sex…you people need to get back to church!
By pinkbunny
June 4, 2008 6:17 PM | Link to this
Lightly salted, any time of the day. This is my answer to the age-old “what-if-you-could-only-have-one-food-for-the-rest-of-your-life?” question, too—watermelon, same answer for more than 50 years now. At my wedding, we had a champagne punch with watermelon puree, simple syrup and fresh mint that was absolute perfection.
By Gummi
June 11, 2008 10:42 AM | Link to this
For years I liked it with just a little salt but now a sprinkle of salt and ground red pepper does it for me.