Here's how to choose the right watermelon: a farmer taught me this trick! Watermelon smells like fish. Cold smoked fish.

They live alone, sailing the endless expanses of the seas. They don't know happiness. They only knew half the world. They are gnawed by boredom and tormented by eternal pain. But the pain will go away and the melancholy will go away when they see the second half of the world. The second half of the world will open up before them when they taste happiness. And happiness will fall into their net when...

The clear sun, smiling tenderly, watched as small waves threw foam and algae onto the shore as if they were running from someone, and then crawled back helplessly. Large boulders rolled by the sea look like a giant sea turtle crawling onto the sandy shore to bask. Their slippery surface was covered with sun-dried algae.

A girl was sunbathing on one flat boulder. Exposing her side to the sun, she turned over, and rough algae touched her tender cheek. Frowning with displeasure, the girl sat down.

A light breeze brought the smell of fresh watermelons from afar: apparently, the season for people to sell fruit had begun, and the market, it seemed, was not so far away. She greedily inhaled the delicious air through her nostrils, held her breath for a few moments and exhaled. Watermelons had a barely noticeable smell that only sea inhabitants who were not accustomed to them could detect this aroma.

She tried watermelon only once in her life. This was many years ago. Then he fell into the water from a ferry carrying fruit. The waves brought the watermelon to a quiet cove where the girl was sunbathing. The wind then, as now, blew lightly, lovingly stroking the boulders and sand, playing with tangled salty hair the color of shells. The soft green scales glistened in the sun.

The mermaid was not afraid that people would notice her. The bay was small, with a high steep bank and inconvenient, and therefore was of no interest to people. And along the edge of the cliff there was a road, there was no place to watch the mermaid. For some reason, people don’t like staying in an almost desert under the scorching sun. They probably didn’t even know that in this bay a sea maiden sunbathes on giant rocks from time to time, and sometimes frolics in the foamy waves.

But in fact, the mermaid was bored. She knew nothing... only the smell of the sea and its salty taste, only the smell of fish and the taste of their raw meat, only groves of algae and fishing nets that sometimes descended into the water. And also this sandy-earth wall, on the top of which an unknown life was boiling. And below it was always quiet and calm, even during a storm it was boring here. And what is a storm for a mermaid? Nothing special…

I really wanted watermelons. I really wanted to climb to the top of the wall and see how people live.

Loneliness was killing me. There wasn't a single mermaid for miles around. Most have long since moved to rivers and lakes closer to the water ones. And in the deserted and boundless sea there was no one left. But there were a lot... a lot...

And the mermaid remembered how they once roamed the sea in a huge school, and people mistook their sparkling tails for fish and threw nets. The mermaids had fun, entangling the nets, tearing them apart... It was a good, wonderful time.

The wind blew stronger. But the mermaid did not feel cold. She has ice blood and a heart of stone. And yet she slipped into the water, picked up the shells laid out on the shallows and headed to her home at the bottom.

And this happened every day. Sun, stones, memories of watermelons and the wind getting colder in the evening. The days are similar to each other. And for many miles around there is not a single mermaid... There is no one to say a word to, no one to splash with in the rays of the setting sun.

In late autumn, when the sun stopped heating as warmly as before, the mermaid left her long-term shelter - a cave under a coral reef - and set off on her way. Sometimes she joined a school of fish and swam with them, and sometimes she plowed the deep waters alone. In the evenings, she emerged and, frozen in the round reflection of the golden sun, she watched the sunset. And then it seemed to her that somewhere out there, in the distance, almost at the very line of the horizon, someone’s head appeared from the water. The mermaid, with a crazy sparkle in her eyes, rushed forward and swam - as if for the last time in her life - on the surface until the sun disappeared, and with it the vision. And upset, she dived and found a place to sleep among the corals, in the eternal refuge of the lonely.

She swam for a long time and already forgot where she came from. And fate again brought her to the familiar bay.

Someone's tail flashed almost at the very shore. The mermaid froze in surprise. Through the clear water she saw someone swimming towards her. Finally, he surfaced right in front of her. They were very close - two infinitely lonely creatures. And the mermaid could even hear his heart beating.

Forgetting about everything in the world, they drifted on the open sea in the rays of the setting sun. Its last golden rays illuminated her blond hair, which the wind had confused with the dark hair of a newt. The mermaid was drowned in the gaze of his pearly eyes, and the newt was drowned in her piercing blue eyes.

The wind brought the smell of fresh watermelons from the shore. And the seagulls cried, flying over the mermaid and the newt, swaying on the waves in the halo of the reflecting sun.

Triton touched the mermaid's tender neck. She took his rough hand. They lingered on the surface for another second and disappeared into the depths along with the last ray.

They easily slid between the corals, and then sharply rushed up and emerged from the water, showering the calm water with splashes shining under the moon. And again they rushed to the bottom, held hands and danced, twirled, rose to the surface again, as if they were running out of air from passion, and twirled, and danced, and kissed under the moon, touching their icy bodies to each other, merging into a single stream of silver scales and cold flesh. Cold, but suddenly becoming fiery, as if the sea itself was on fire. It seemed to them that everything: the sand, the moon, the water, and the fish were dancing and having fun with them. And for the newt there was only a mermaid who hugged him. And for the mermaid there was only a newt, pressing her to him.

The silent moon watched the mad dance of two lovers. She thought that these two had met for the last time, so hot was the passion of the cold creatures.

Small waves stormed the shore. The stars were shining serenely in the sky. And still the wind brought the smell of watermelons from the shore.

Chinese wisdom says: give a man a fish and you will feed him only once; teach him to fish and he will feed on it for the rest of his life. However, the time when people “fed” fish is a thing of the past. Today they eat it...

Especially if the masterpieces of haute cuisine from the French restaurant La Mare were conjured over the masterpiece. Gourmets who know a lot about seafood delicacies will certainly appreciate the dishes a la La Maree - the freshest fish, live lobsters and lobsters are delivered here by plane directly from France, Canada, Tunisia, Morocco and Kamchatka. There is still living food floating in the aquariums, which will be caught, fried or baked in accordance with your ideas of the ideal meal. By the way, what should the “correct” fish be and what should it be eaten with? This is exactly what we have to figure out.

Fresh fish smells like sea, watermelon and cucumber
So, have you finally dared to show off your culinary skills to your guests and feed them skillfully prepared fish? Dmitry Ermakov, sous-chef of the La Maree fish boutique, will help you choose a fresh specimen for gastronomic experiments. When purchasing a fish, look straight into its eyes - they should be transparent, like a baby's tear. A cloudy look indicates that your “catch”... no, not drunk, but clearly not the freshest. Secondly, the gills! Make sure they are light red or dark pink. Brown or grayish-red are evidence that their owner can ruin your company’s entire mass. At the end of the “inspection”, try to lightly press the fish - if there are no dents left, you can safely take it home. And most importantly - the smell! Fresh fish does not smell like fish at all, but... like the sea, watermelon and cucumbers. Do you feel it?

Back to the roots
In the distant era of Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau called on people to be closer to nature, and Voltaire argued: “What is natural is beautiful.” Time passed, the technical revolution broke out, Homo sapiens discovered the atom, flew into space and cloned Dolly the sheep, but in our age of total progress or regression, the “vicious children of urbanization” still highly value raw food, not spoiled by the benefits of civilization. Fans of the “raw food diet” (not to be confused with cheese lovers!) believe that this allows us to better absorb the beneficial substances contained in foods. But heat treatment reduces their energy and biological value. In India, raw fish is used to treat asthma. Every year for 150 years, supporters of alternative medicine suffering from suffocation participate in the sadomasochistic magical ritual of swallowing small murrel fish (its length is 5-7 cm), which is stuffed with a special herbal paste. It is believed that the slippery, wriggling fish clears the trachea of ​​phlegm and mucus. It is recommended to repeat the procedure for three years in a row, and, surprisingly, many sufferers actually got rid of their illness after such an execution. Although, perhaps, they simply sincerely believed in miraculous healing... In any case, there is no scientific evidence of the healing properties of such therapy yet, but the taste qualities of raw fish dishes receive the highest ratings among gourmets. I suggest you support the tradition of a raw food diet and start your fish tasting with something light. How about sashimi or carpaccio?

Carpaccio. In Europe, they prefer to lightly marinate fresh fish. And the famous wasabi is replaced with lemon juice or vinegar. Preparing carpaccio does not take much time and can be done even by a person whose culinary education is limited to the ability to cook a couple of sausages. Everything is very simple - just buy sea bass (aka sea wolf) fish at the La Maree boutique, cut the fillet into thin slices and carefully place it on shallots soaked in lemon juice. Next, sprinkle the gastronomic masterpiece with salt and pepper, lemon juice and olive oil. After 15–20 minutes, the fillet will be soaked in the marinade, and you will be able to proudly announce to the lady invited to dinner: “Darling, I’m having carpaccio today.” Did someone say that the way to a woman's heart isn't through her stomach?

Traditional fish sir
After having a light snack of sashimi and carpaccio, we proceed to the “hot dishes”. That is, let's try fish cooked in a traditional, thermal way. After all, it was not in vain that Prometheus suffered, stealing fire from the gods and passing it on to suffering mortals! Let's begin. You have already become the happy owner of fresh, watermelon-smelling fish. Here it is! What should we do with it? First of all, remove the entrails, gills and fins (this is especially true for the mentioned sea bass, in which they are poisonous). Now remove the skin from the tail to the head and remove the bones with tweezers. It is better to cut large fish into pieces and fry on a flatbed (something like a grill, only with a flat surface) or a banal frying pan. A small one can be baked whole in the oven at 300 degrees. This is even better - the meat will retain maximum nutrients. The main companions for fried and baked fish are salt, pepper and olive oil. Ideally, it would be good to first lightly fry it in oil on a plate, and then send it to “finish” in the oven. The fish is ready if it can be easily pierced with a match or fork.

But not everything is so simple! When conjuring the gift of the sea, it is important to follow simple rules.

5 secrets of the “right” fish
1. The first and most important secret is the cooking time. Be careful not to overcook it - you'll end up with something dry and tasteless. In no case should you cook over high heat - the meat will become tough.
2. During frying, fish can behave extremely meanly - sometimes it falls apart into pieces. To prevent this from happening, don’t forget to salt it 10-15 minutes before putting it on the tablet or frying pan.
3. The finished product is usually sprinkled with lemon juice. It will give a special taste to trout, sea bass, and sea bream.
4. It is better to fry fish in very hot oil. There must be gaps between the pieces - they will allow a crust to form, which retains the juice. This means the dish will turn out juicy and tasty.
5. Before cooking, take the time to wipe the fish carcass dry with a towel. Then it will be thoroughly browned and will look very piquant.
Exquisite combinations: with white wine and cream sauce

Fish and red wine are practically incompatible things: even the most aged and expensive drink made from red grapes acquires an unpleasant metallic aftertaste. On the other hand, fish cooked in red wine goes well with it - for example, with Pinot Noir. But, as a rule, white is still served with fish dishes.

An excellent complement could be Burgundy Meursault - a fragrant and rich wine with a long taste, in the aroma of which you can hear clear notes of lemon flowers and freshly cut herbs. But it must certainly be chilled. Meursault harmonizes perfectly with fish in a creamy sauce, which is an original combination of delicate butter, cream and... white wine.

Sashimi goes well with young dry white wines - German Riesling Trocken, Australian Riesling or Chilean Sauvignon. There is even a special wine for sashimi and sushi - Sushiwine, which has a subtle floral aroma. This is the result of a collaboration between winemaker Bernard Germain from the Loire Valley and an enterprising Tokyo sommelier.

Finally, vegetables (grilled or steamed - whichever you prefer) will be the final touch to a “proper” fish feast. You can replace them with Europe's favorite - asparagus. True gourmets consume it exclusively whole, lightly fried after cooking in olive oil or butter.

BBCode:
HTML:
Straight:

Add a comment

* your nickname

Email (will be hidden)

In folk medicine, watermelon juice was used for nutritional and vitamin face masks, which prevent sagging of both dry and oily skin, improve its color, make it soft and smooth.
Watermelon has strong diuretic, choleretic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and restorative properties. Normalizes metabolic processes, improves intestinal function.

How to choose the right ripe watermelon

1. It is advisable not to buy watermelons before mid-August: – Even the earliest ripening varieties naturally ripen only by the end of July.
2. A ripe and juicy watermelon makes a booming sound when slammed with your palm.
3. If the watermelon crunches under pressure even with slight squeezing, then this is a sign of ripeness.
4. It is better to avoid buying a cracked watermelon.
5. Choose only medium-sized watermelons.
6. If you are going to pickle watermelons, then it is advisable to choose the smallest sizes possible.
7. A large white spot on the side of a watermelon is a sign of unripeness: – Choose a watermelon with a small yellow spot.
8. If the rind of a watermelon is easily scratched with a fingernail, the watermelon is ripe.
9. It is advisable not to buy watermelons near highways: – A picked watermelon “breathes”; it easily absorbs toxins from the air.
10. Dried tail of a watermelon: – This is not an indicator of ripeness, but a consequence of a long stay in the plucked state.
11. When cut, the fibers should be white: – If you see yellow fibers, this is a sign of excess nitrates.
12. After cutting a watermelon at home, immerse a piece of pulp in a glass of water: – If the water turns pink, the watermelon is colored in the literal sense of the word. This kind of watermelon is dangerous to eat.
13. Nitrates in watermelon are distributed unevenly: – Most of them are near the skin and the stem. It is best for children to give the pulp from the middle.
14. Inhale the aroma of a cut watermelon, it should smell sweet: - If the smell is sour, then such a watermelon should be put aside. They can seriously poison you.
15. The very popular jam made from watermelon rinds should not be cooked in the first month of selling watermelons: – With modern technology for growing watermelons, many harmful substances are used, which are concentrated precisely under the skin.

By following these tips, you can buy a juicy and ripe watermelon, and most importantly, a safe one.

Choosing a watermelon is a delicate matter. Indeed, how can you understand what’s inside, under the green peel? Everyone has their own techniques and methods. And we will tell you which watermelons you definitely shouldn’t buy.

The sweet red pulp of watermelon is extremely healthy for both adults and children. True, pediatricians do not recommend offering it to children under 1.5 years old, but for older children it is very important to choose a safe fruit. Of course, it is difficult to guarantee quality in the market, but you can definitely reduce the risk if you know a few rules.

How to choose a safe watermelon

• Don’t take risks buying watermelons at spontaneous markets, and especially if they are sold near the road with heavy traffic. Despite the thick peel, dangerous substances penetrate into the fruit with exhaust gases from cars. Especially if watermelons are stored near the road for a long time.
• Watermelons that are sold cut are of course more convenient - you can immediately see what’s inside. However, as soon as the fruit was cut, active oxidative processes and rapid proliferation of bacteria began in the pulp unprotected by the peel, which only needed oxygen and heat. Moreover, you don’t know how clean the knife was used to cut it. For the same reason, you should not ask the seller to cut the purchased watermelon.
• Smell the watermelon - it should smell like grass and freshness, but if you smell a not-so-pleasant sourish smell, don’t take it. Most likely, the fermentation process has already begun inside.
• Look at the light spot that forms on the side of the watermelon that was facing the ground while growing. If the spot is white and not yellow, it means the fruit is either not yet ripe, or it has received too little sunlight, which means it will definitely not be sweet. The size of a ripe watermelon spot should be no more than 10 cm in diameter.
• Carefully feel the fruit over the entire surface; if you feel something soft, know that this is the place of impact, which has already begun to rot. Putrefactive bacteria spread very quickly; do not expect that after cutting off the damaged area, everything else is safe. It is very easy to get poisoned by watermelon, especially for children.

The magnificent, sweet, juicy and sugary berry watermelon begins to delight us in mid-summer. Most of the harvest ripens in the southern territories of the country, in open melon fields, and complaints about its taste rarely arise. Greenhouse and imported specimens more often contain bitterness, forcing the consumer to wonder why a watermelon, which by its nature should delight with sweetness, is bitter?

Main causes of bitterness

• TasteP The loda began to become bitter over time. The berry lay for a long time and lost its original beneficial properties.
• Bitter the taste may be determined by the variety. This is coloncite, a bitter type of berry, also known as “Bitter Apple” or “Bitter Cucumber”. When unripe, it also has a green-spotted color. When ripe, the bark of this “watermelon” turns straw-yellow. An additional “surprise” from eating such a crop will be severe diarrhea, caused by the presence of glycosides in the coloncytes, the genins of which are elaterins.
• Ethylene gas turns the sweet watermelon berry into a bitter fruit in winter. Fruits brought from Thailand or Turkey are often treated with this gas for better preservation during transportation. Signs of such an effect, in addition to changes in taste, are loose interior and the presence of coarse fibers.
• Improper storage of melons. Bacteria can penetrate into the fruit pulp through microcracks in the rind, causing the contents to become bitter. To avoid this, you need to choose the right watermelon. A ripe, healthy fruit has a shiny rind, a dry tail, and makes a booming sound when tapped on the peel. Nitrate watermelon makes the sound of a deflated ball and does not crack when squeezed. If there is no soil stain on the crust, it means that the berry has not been left in natural conditions for the prescribed period and the consumer has every chance of “running into” a fruit that will be bitter.
• Cutting watermelons for sale. The taste of the berry may deteriorate if you buy half a watermelon. When cut and stored, harmful microorganisms are introduced into the pulp of the fruit, which begin to actively multiply in unsanitary conditions of the store or tray. As a result, the minimum available amount of nitrates increases and the core begins to taste bitter.

On the blade of the knife you use there will definitely be a whole “horde” of harmful microorganisms, which can not only deteriorate the taste of the watermelon brought home, but also cause severe poisoning. In addition, the sweet pulp itself can become infected through the cut and turn sour. At the same time, it will become bitter and acquire properties dangerous to the body.

Poisoning with harmful substances

The taste of watermelon especially suffers from the “pumping” of harmful substances. The first “distressers” of the taste of berries are saltpeter and nitrates, which unscrupulous agricultural producers “sin” with.

Watermelon contains saltpeter:

When this substance enters the ovary, a sharp increase in the weight of the watermelon occurs - up to 10-20 kg. After removal, watermelons turn red within a few days (for this purpose they are specially left in the sun), but they do not gain any sweetness. On the contrary, the existing 5-6% of glucose and fructose are converted into sucrose, the pulp quickly sours and the taste drops to sour-bitter.

If you see white or yellow veins in a cut berry, there is no need to try it, since this is a clear sign of saltpeter poisoning and an almost one hundred percent guarantee that the fruit will be bitter.

Watermelon is bitter from nitrates , with which they pumped up the still unripe fetus:

External signs of injections are rotten spots on the bark. In this case, the bitter taste is caused by the substance cucurbitacin - sapogenin of the triterpene series of saponins, which have a bitter and unpleasant taste. It is contained in significant quantities in green vegetables, but by the time a full-fledged watermelon ripens, it practically disappears.

Excess nitrates inhibit full ripening, which means that cucurbitacin practically does not disappear. Despite the fact that the substance has anticancer and antimicrobial, inflammation-fighting and anthelmintic properties, you should not eat watermelon, which is bitter. Cucurbitacin is toxic and has limited use even in traditional medicine. Signs of nitrate damage are the presence of voids, purple and other streaks in the pulp.

Considering that watermelons can taste bitter, try to prevent the purchase of such specimens by judging them by appearance. If such a berry does fall into your hands, you should not eat it, so as not to pay for your own health.