Watermelon Dream

Saucyman, Why do I like watermelon so much? Melon-choly

P.S. What else is there to do with them besides slice them?

I’m going to guess it is the taste, texture or appearance that does it for you. The Citrullus Lanatus is a good-looking melon - On the exterior there is the lovely contrast between dark green/euro green stripes. Inside the color is even better – the unmistakable pinkish red, while a little too much for a wall or shirt color, is about as about as evocative of a summer day as you get. Historically, the interior of the watermelon was studded with edible black seeds but in recent years, plant breeders have bred the seeds out, or more accurately, changed the seeds into smaller, less noticeable entities, akin to the seeds of their distant cucurbit cousin, the cucumber.

The texture is also unique. On average, watermelons are 92% water, each like a little reservoir. The sensation of biting into a melon is unique; a hemidemisemi crunch followed by the melon dissolving onto the tongue - Eating a slice of watermelon is probably as close as you can get to the sensation of chewing water without the aid of psychotropic hallucinogens.

Then there is the flavor. If watermelon was a million piece puzzle - about 920,000 parts would be water, and only 8 little jigsaws would be flavor components. There are over 50 separate flavoring agents responsible for the violet-guava-cucumber-prickly pear flavor profile. The food additives - hexenyl pyruvate/isobutyrate are chemical shortcuts to the flavor but as anyone who has had bubble gum can testify, it isn’t quite the same thing.

Others might tell you watermelon does it for you because of the all the B and C vitamins in the melon. Watermelon also contains the super-duper carotenoid, lycopene – whose antioxidant kung fu is much heralded. Although, watermelon contains lycopene in greater concentrations than a tomato, Saucyman hates breaking down food into components or even tacitly suggesting some foods have magical properties. While broccoli might be better for you than deep-fried chicken nuggets: Food isn’t good or bad, but diets are.

As to your postscript, what do with a watermelon besides slicing and eating it, well you can mitigate any possible health benefits by adding alcohol and using the fruit as an important part of a cocktail. Considering the flavor components are alcohol-soluble, this is actually a good way to enjoy the watermelon flavor. You can puree watermelon to use in drinks, or can cut the melons into cubes – place them on a cookie-sheet, freeze them and have little pink ice cubes to mix drinks with. The national watermelon council, (found on the web at watermelon.org) counsels a watermelon mojito but a few watermelon cubes thrown in with tequila, lime and a little orange liqueur makes about the chickiest, pinkest margarita a fella could ever be caught holding – For the insecure, drink, not sip, ironically.