SOCAL STYLE / Entertaining : Pink Passion : When the Spice is Right, Enjoy Watermelon by the Glass

One of my most vivid memories is of sitting on the concrete steps of our suburban home, dressed in a worn yellow bathing suit and balancing a giant wedge of watermelon on my bare legs. As a 5-year-old, I reveled in the unique rules governing watermelon feasts at our house: “You can eat all you want, any way you want, as long as you do it outside.” There was something rapturous about being able to break off a huge chunk with my fingers or burrow out a fistful, squirting seeds at my brother. We pushed our faces deep into the green bowls of the fruit, knowing that their sweet, icy pink was endless and that when we were sated, my father had a hose ready to rinse us off.

For me, watermelon is the essence of summer, as straightforwardly cool as a motel swimming pool. Pablo Neruda, the Chilean poet, called it a “jewel box of water” whose “rubies fall apart/in your abundance.” Mark Twain referred to it as “what the angels eat.” I understand their captivation. I’ve bought perfumes because they carry cucumber-y top notes of watermelon, worn jewelry fashioned after rosy wet slices and lingered over museum still lifes featuring the fruit’s lush interior. Apparently, I’m not alone. Food historians note that ancient tomb paintings depicting the beauty of the fruit have been found in Egypt, where it was first cultivated nearly 5,000 years ago. Watermelon, a relative of cucumbers and gourds, traveled with traders who strapped nature’s canteens to camels and sold the seeds along their routes. It spread through Europe and Asia and likely made its way to the American South with slaves who carried the taste of home with them from western Africa.

Recently, when a large family gathering coincided with the appearance of this year’s first local melons, I plunged into the season by blending watermelon drinks for the kids, who were dressed up and couldn’t devour the fruit with their usual abandon. We’ve always loved liquados, made by simply pureeing watermelon with a little ice and lime juice, but for fun we experimented by adding sweeteners such as Karo syrup and unexpected variations such as grapefruit juice. Too much sugar of any kind produced an across-the-board “yech” from the young tasters (“It’s not watermelon-y anymore,” said one disappointed cousin), and grapefruit juice turned the drink into a too-grown-up cooler. But we all loved a sunburn-toned drink with West African roots that mixed ginger with the melon. Subtly spicy and definitely refreshing, it’ll stay in regular rotation with lemonade for our hot-weather meals.

Freezing a portion of the watermelon chunks before blending yielded an icy slush that was particularly cooling, and we sipped our way through 20 pounds of what, in my personal lexicon, might better be called the passion fruit.

As Neruda wrote: “Fruit from the thirst tree . . . we/want/to bite into you . . . “

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Watermelon-Ginger Refresher

Adapted from “Mother Africa’s Table, The National Council of Negro Women Inc.,” compiled by Cassandra Hughes Webster (Main Street Books, 1998)

Makes about 2 quarts

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2/3 cup fresh ginger root (about 6 ounces), washed but unpeeled

8 cups ripe watermelon (about 8 pounds), carved from rind, seeded and cut into large chunks

2 cups water

Lime slices or mint leaves

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Mince ginger by hand or in food processor. Wrap in cheesecloth and squeeze to extract juice. This should yield about 2 tablespoons, depending on how juicy and how finely minced ginger is. Discard ginger.

In two batches, blend 6 1/2 cups watermelon with water and 1 tablespoon of ginger juice in blender. Pour watermelon puree into serving pitcher. Roughly chop remaining 1 1/2 cups watermelon chunks and add to pitcher. Add remaining ginger juice to taste. Refrigerate until well chilled. (Do not add ice, as this will dilute flavor.) To serve, stir well and pour into glasses. Garnish with lime or mint.

For slushy drink: Freeze 4 cups watermelon 6 hours in shallow pan. Blend with ginger juice, water and 4 cups unfrozen watermelon.

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Food stylist: Christine Anthony-Masterson