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The city is hot, humid and scorching. It’s literally like spending your afternoon in front of the “behind the air-conditioner”. There is such vapor in the air. warm and covered. I just lie in the hope that the skies open up and we get some respite from this cat and dog season. It is gruesome and painful. The temperature is sinking and dying. My faculties leave me the moment I run out of air conditioning, and even a heavily oiled Indian meal, or a fiery Asian meal or even a full-bodied Chinese meal. The notion of foodies seems punishable for wearing a black Lycra full-sleeved shirt and strolling on the beach on a sunny afternoon. In these harsh and relentless conditions, my mind wanders closer to cold, sweet, crunchy and salty salads. A watermelon and feta salad.
Nothing cools you down quite like a melon, and watermelon is one of the very few fruits that I love. A large juicy fruit composed of about 92% water, with a tart sweet pulp. It is available everywhere and there is no fruit stall on the street that does not sell one. Watermelon is reputed to be the fruit of the summer tree, or thirst tree. It’s easy to eat, and all you need to do is chop the dark green rind with a large sharp knife to reach the juicy, luscious, watery red mass. You can either chop the fruit into large pieces or cut into wedges, or liquefy the fruit by pulping it in a juicer, leaving roughly enough pulp. Once done, I recommend leaving the juice or cut fruit in the fridge for a while, then consuming it only after the chunky fiber has entered the red sinew after it has cooled. I like to freeze large chunks of watermelon, and consume them one by one, or add them to my gin and tonic.
But coming back to the salad; I think I tasted watermelon and feta salad for the first time many years ago in Parel’s tasting room. Generally, not for any kind of salad, this salad blew my mind. Mainly because it is not full of all kinds of leaves. It’s a salad that fascinates me, and to put that witchcraft into words is formidable. I am fascinated by the utter eccentricity of this salad.
Salads are simply big chunky wedges of richly sweet, overly juicy, scarlet melon flesh protected from something important. Something that would stand up to the extreme fluidity and sweetness of the watermelon. Something that is thick and salty, yet creamy. Like feta cheese. So you have big chunks of watermelon, with crumble and flaky feta, and a handful of torn pickled and tangy arugula or rocket leaves and a dressing of balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. Fabulous, delicious, buttery and slightly sweet, but finished with very expensive pine-nuts. Now cut into crisp and cool watermelon, scoop out some balsamic dressing, scoop out some nuts, lance into a rocket and pour it straight into your mouth. You will really feel that your temperature is dropping.
Speaking of melons, I am sure you must have eaten a cantaloupe or musk melon or muskmelon before. same thing. Melon or musk melon is known by many names in India. In Tamil it is called ‘Mulam Pazam’, in Bengali it is known as ‘Kharmuj’ and in Gujarati it is called ‘Shakaretti’. As soon as the summer comes in Gujarat, but before the mango arrives, the Gujarati kitchen starts cooking from this melon including juice, panna and shrikhand. It is eaten in Gujarat only as a fresh fruit, or in the form of kachumber or raw with salt and chili powder. I love the spicy, tangy salsa with chopped tomatoes, red onion, fresh cilantro, garlic, lemon juice, and salt and pepper in the form of a melon. Or as a smoothie with banana or cucumber. What’s more, since melon is not cheap in taste, it can be mixed and melted in any form and recipe, including a rich melon pudding made from cantaloupe pulp with almonds, rice and condensed milk.
Another type of melon is the honeydew melon or sweet melon. Honeydew is a juicy, mild-sweet and earthy favorite fruit that lends itself to very sweet as well as savory dishes. In its simplest form, you can make juice from the fruit and add a little honey and a squeeze of lemon and grated ginger if you feel you need some more flavor. It’s healthy, and it’s low on calories and high on fiber like most melons, so it’s ideal for this seasoning. Honeydew also works wonders as a cold green gazpacho soup. We all know that gazpacho is a cold soup made from raw, mixed vegetables. With honeydew, you can make a nice crisp but pulpy green gazpacho with green peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs, vinegar and olive oil.
Even a honeydew melon with avocado, honey, cucumber, green grapes and green apple makes a great gazpacho in summer. They’ll both taste great, and both spread the goodness of melons this hot season. I would say that melon, be it melon, musk melon, honeydew melon and any other melon you may like, is your weapon against the heat. A healthy, cooling, refreshing and hydrating weapon. May the power of melon be with you.
Kunal Vijaykar is a food writer based in Mumbai. He tweets @kunalvijayakar and can be followed on Instagram @kunalvijayakar. What is the name of his youtube channel? The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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