When I was a wee lass of 6 or 7 or maybe 8, some friends of my parents brought over a jar of pickled watermelon rind. It blew my 6, 7 or maybe 8-year old mind. Sweet!? Sour!? “This is a pickle?” I thought. It was chunky, dark & syrupy, and I wanted more.
Fast forward 55 years or so, and I’m trying (for the fourth time) to make a great pickled watermelon rind.
My first attempt was about 10 years ago. They were awful — mushy and over-sweet.
About six months ago, my second attempt used the recipe by Vivian Howard in her cookbook Deep Run Roots The taste was spot on but the consistency was off. So I tried again.
The morning of July 7 began my fourth attempt at perfect pickled watermelon rind.
This watermelon rind is thick - it’s an organic black seedless (Yumi) watermelon - so
I’m really hoping for success. I’m working half the rind of a medium-sized melon, roughly four pounds.
I peeled, trimmed, and brined the rinds, removing 90% of the pink flesh. The brine is one quart water, 1/4 c salt (3.75% brine). This is how they looked when I took them out of the brine.
The next day I prepared the vinegar brine. One cup lemon juice, four cups sugar, two cups apple cider vinegar (here Vivian and I part — she uses white wine vinegar, I used organic apple cider vinegar), two cups water, one 3-inch piece of ginger peeled & sliced into coins, a teaspoon of coriander, a cinnamon stick, about 10 cloves and three or so pieces of star anise. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
With the brine ready to go, it’s time for the next step: Add watermelon, one thinly sliced lemon, and the zest of one orange
(removed with a peeler, white removed with a paring knife). Bring back to a boil and…
Now the tricky part. Ms Howard recommends simmering the whole lot for 40 minutes or until 50% of the chunks of melon are translucent. I simmered them for 30 minutes the first time, & 20 minutes the second time. I felt like both were ‘overcooked’.
This time, they were 50% translucent after 12 minutes. So I pulled them from the heat and let them sit for a few hours. The above photo is how they looked when I took them off the heat. Once finished and ready to store in the fridge, they looked like this:
So pretty! And the consistency is dead on. A slight crunch, then a yielding, soft texture. Sweet, sour & chewy, they taste like summer in a jar.
Really, just about perfect.
Eat Well &
Love Big!
xoxo nancy
