To Make Watermelon Preserves
A historical recipe from La cuisine creole, by Lafcadio Hearn (1885).
A historical recipe
La cuisine creole: a collection of culinary recipes from leading chefs and noted Creole housewives, who have made New Orleans famous for its cuisine, by Lafcadio Hearn (1885). Project Gutenberg eBook #75027.
From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards. Its words name: preserving or pickling, a substance or vessel no longer considered safe. Check current food-safety guidance before following this.
Also printed in: La cuisine creole (1885).
United States
Known as an American recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.
- Preserving. Old preserving methods may not make food safe to keep. Use current tested guidance.
- Additives or old utensils. The text names something no longer considered safe in food or for cooking in, such as lead, alum, borax, bitter almonds or copper pans. Don't use it.
Ingredients 3 ingredients
Cook safely
Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.
- Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
- Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.
Method
Chef Wood
-
Hello, I'm Chef Wood. Ask me anything about this recipe, whenever you like. Press play, or say “next”, and I'll read you the steps one at a time.
Chef Wood answers only when you ask, so take all the time you need. His answers come from AI and are general cooking guidance.
- Take the firm outside rind of the watermelon;
- scrape off the green and cut out the soft inside;
- cut the rind into any shapes you choose, stars, crescents, diamonds, etc.
- After they have been boiled in alum and leaves to green and harden, weigh them and make a syrup of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, with a cup of water to each pound.
- Boil the syrup clear, and put in the cut rinds, and boil them until transparent.
- Flavor with ginger for green color, and lemons for the yellow.
- If the rind is wanted yellow you must boil it with fresh lemon skins and a little saffron before preserving it.
Plating
Cookware for this recipe
-
Saucepan
-
Chef's knife