Chef Steve French gives the lowdown on a key ingredient that's in season this month
June is a good month for stone fruits like apricots, peaches and plums, look out for locally grown varieties at the markets.
In addition to these, the first melons and watermelons should be starting to make an appearance heralding the start of summer and these should now be available right through to the end of September.
Obviously, you can simply cut and eat any of these melons as they are, but there are more interesting ways to use them too, in both sweet and savoury dishes.
There are numerous varieties of watermelons out there, from the traditional huge green stripey ones through nearly black, red fleshed seedless ones to mini yellow or orange fleshed ones. The flavour is really similar, but I find that yellow watermelons have a slightly sweeter honey edge than most red ones, although my brain struggles a bit with the colour.
How to look for a good watermelon?
Look for a heavy melon which has a deep hollow sound when you rap your knuckles on it.
Rounder melons seem to be less watery than elongated ones – and therefore sweeter.
Look out for the “field mark” where the melon has rested on the ground while growing – a darker more yellow/orange colour indicates that the melon has spent a longer time in the sun than if the spot is lighter or white, meaning it will have a higher sugar content and therefore be more delicious and sweeter.
If the stem is still attached look for a dry brown one, not green and a dull matte skin opposed to shiny suggests a better ripened fruit.
Finca 49 Watermelon & Feta Salad
This salad is delicious, refreshing and simple to make, the salty feta and sharp lemon and lime contrast beautifully with the sweet melon and fresh mint.
Use a seedless watermelon if you can get one for obvious reasons or mix it up with a yellow fleshed variety for added colour.
Watermelon – cut into 2-3 cm chunks
Feta cheese in slightly smaller chunks
Lemon zest (unwaxed)
Freshly squeezed lime juice
Roast garlic oil
Fresh mint
Ground black pepper
Rocket
Pickled red onions
Toasted pumpkin seeds
Simply combine the watermelon and feta, dress with lime juice, garlic oil, chopped mint, lemon zest and black pepper.
Serve over the rocket and top with toasted pumpkin seeds and a few pickled red onions.
Serve immediately as the watermelon will start to leach juice and the chopped mint will discolour.
Spiced Watermelon Gazpacho
Another super refreshing dish for hot sunny days! This classic cold Andalucian soup is given a lift by the addition of lemon juice, jalapeño chile, spices and watermelon.
¼ cucumber peeled
1 heaped cup of watermelon flesh
400g tinned tomatoes
½ mild white onion
¼ each of green and red sweet peppers
2 cloves fresh garlic
40ml extra virgin olive oil
20-40ml sherry vinegar depending on taste and acidity of tomatoes etc
a slice of day old white bread
1 pickled jalapeño chile (or fresh)
juice of half a lemon
50 ml cold water
cumin, coriander, black pepper, salt to taste
to garnish: chopped fresh mint leaves (or basil/coriander), roast garlic oil, diced avocado
Simply blitz everything in a blender or processor until smooth and serve chilled garnished with the avocado, mint and garlic oil – you can also add little croutons and some of the component vegetables finely diced for diners to add to their individual bowls.
Super Simple Watermelon Ice Cream
500g watermelon, cubed
1 overripe banana, sliced
60ml coconut milk
Cut some baking parchment and cover a tray with it. Combine the cubed watermelon flesh and sliced banana and scatter them over the parchment in a single layer – freeze.
When frozen (3-4 hours) simply blend the frozen fruits with the coconut milk in batches, you can add condensed milk if you want it sweeter.
Eat immediately or refreeze for a later date. It will need 20+ minutes out of the freezer before serving as it will be SOLID!
I have seen a recipe for stir fried watermelon rind, using a lot of Asian flavours, like fish sauce, soy, honey, ginger, chili and garlic – although I haven’t tried it yet. Julienne the rind and combine it with carrots, spring onions, peppers etc. garnish with fresh herbs like coriander and mint – sounds intriguing?!
Steve French has been a Chef, restaurateur and food consultant in both the UK and Spain for over 35 years; most recently at Finca49 in Pollença and is currently running cookery experiences in Andalucia. Finca49 snapshots of summer cookbook is available to buy from www.finca49.com.