Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 25, 1993 TAG: 9309240354
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder Newspapers
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Watermelons, though in the squash and cucumber family, are a gourd of a different color and flavor. The best are intensely sweet, thirst-quenching pinnacles of summer; the worst are insipid.
The edible gourds originated in Africa, where tribesmen would carry watermelons on long hunting trips as a source of water, writes Curtis Aikens in his book, ``Greengrocer's Guide to the Harvest,'' (Peachtree, $11).
They made their way across Europe, into Asia and eventually to North America during colonial times.
California leads the nation in watermelon production, but there's general agreement among Southerners that melons grown in the South are sweeter.
The oval-shaped Charleston Gray with its red flesh and shiny black seeds is a familiar sight in grocery stores. But other varieties include the Fordhook hybrid, which weighs about 14 pounds and has bright red flesh and round, dark, glossy green rind; and the Crimson Sweet, a round melon averaging about 25 pounds that is light green with dark green stripes.
The Sugar Baby is a very sweet, small, round, dark green watermelon with red flesh and a minimum of seeds.
Aikens favors the Black Diamond, a round or somewhat oval melon with a dark green skin, a white rind and rich red flesh.
And for size alone, there's the Carolina Cross. Burpee Gardens catalog reports that these babies can easily weigh 200 pounds.
Watermelons are low in calories and high in potassium. They supply respectable amounts of vitamin A and calcium.
Choosing a watermelon is simple: Close your eyes and touch one.
And at home? The best way to eat watermelon is when it's very, very cold.
Either slide it into the refrigerator for an overnight stay or, better yet, float it all afternoon in a galvanized tub of ice water. Slice. Eat.
\ PAPAL BREW: My favorite souvenir from last week's World Youth Day which brought Pope John Paul II and 200,000 visitors to Denver was Popus Visitus, a limited edition ale brewed by Denver's Breckenridge Brewery. Billed as ``The Beer for the Masses,'' Popus Visitus with the stained glass motif label is an affable, quaffable and ultimately uplifting ale. Another Denver brewpub, the Wynkoop Brewery, served its customers Ale Mary.
\ ZUCCHINI INVASION: One minute you have a lovely plant covered with flowers. Within moments, you are faced with five squashes the size of softball bats. It's not a pretty sight. While you could surreptitiously drop a few on your neighbor's doorstep, there's no need to panic if you have grown a bumper crop of zucchini and summer squash. I uncovered a huge yellow squash the other day. Relieved that it was not a steroid-bloated Slug From Hell, I cut thick slices from it and brushed them with a mixture of sesame oil, tamari sauce, cayenne pepper and ground ginger before grilling until tender. Another easy use for excess squash is Zucchini Pancakes. The following recipe is from the Gold Hill Inn, a rustic restaurant located in a mountain-ringed town in the foothills west of Boulder, Colo.:
\ ZUCCHINI PANCAKES
Grate one medium zucchini into a bowl and drain it thoroughly. Stir in 2 eggs, 3 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon chopped chives, teaspoon chopped parsley, pinch of chopped garlic, salt and pepper. If too liquid add more flour. Drop on oiled griddle and cook until browned. Serve hot or cold with sour cream, butter, apple sauce or chicken in curry sauce.
by CNB