[Sca-cooks] watermelons

[Stefan li Rous]

Jim Chevallier said:
<<< Man, I can't get away from these things. >>>

Lol.

<<<A Renaissance painting  reveals how breeding changed watermelons
http://www.vox.com/2015/7/28/9050469/watermelon-breeding-paintings

An interesting detail here is that older watermelons seem to have had seed  
cavities, though roughly spiral shaped. This means the seeds might not have 
been  embedded in the flesh as they are now. >>>

Thank you for posting this. Wow. a lot more rind in that medieval watermelon. In only 500 years. That clarifies some of the earlier discussion on the ‘Roman’ melon and why that description may differ from what we think of as watermelon. 

I have wondered recently whether our search for seedless watermelons has traded off taste for less seeds. But looking at that painting, it sure looks like the modern watermelons would taste better. 

Then again, I’ve wondered if the large, modern strawberries have given up taste for size, as well. Maybe length of travel, or picking fruits early for toughness in travel has a bigger impact.

And Cailte was commenting on not finding thick enough rinds in some watermelons for making rind pickle. I’m not sure whether that is a good or bad thing. Yet. Still sounds like “Donkey is wonderful meat”. Until you taste filet mignon.

Stefan
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THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****