[Sca-cooks] Question about watermelon...

[Johnna Holloway]

Watermelons— Come originally from Sub-Saharan Africa and were eaten by 
the Egyptians, but not apparently by the Romans and Greeks. They begin 
to appear in still life paintings in Northern Europe after circa 1450. 
Watermelon was never as popular as the other melons. I have not found 
that garnishing melons in the fashions employed here today was done 
prior to 1600, but again it seemed the decorative, inexpensive, and 
festive thing to do.

This is from my notes that I made when I served them last.
Castelvetro's manuscript contains a good description of them.
See Castelvetro, Giacomo. The Fruit, Herbs & Vegetables of Italy. 
Translated by Gillian Riley. London: Viking, 1989.

If you search the web gallery of art under melon you can turn up
some pictures of at least 17th century cantalopes.

Johnnae

Kathleen A Roberts wrote:

> did i dream seeing it, or did i see a mention of watermelon being 
> period fruit on this list? or just melon? and what kind?
>
> cailte
> just too much going on right now to hunt...
>