watermelon pickles, mark's

Recipe by
Megan Stewart
Middletown, OH

This one is from Mark's Polish family recipes, they used everything they had to eat...

yield 16 serving(s)
method Stove Top

Ingredients For watermelon pickles, mark's

  • 4 lb
    watermelon rind
  • 2 Tbsp
    whole spice
  • 2 Tbsp
    cloves
  • 1 1/2 qt
    water
  • 4 1/2 lb
    sugar
  • 10 stick
    cinnamon
  • 1 qt
    water
  • LIME WATER
  • 2 qt
    water
  • 2 Tbsp
    lime (calcium oxide from local drugstore)

How To Make watermelon pickles, mark's

  • 1
    Trim off green skin and pink flesh. Weigh 4 lbs. of the remaining portion and cut in 1" pieces. Soak for 2 1/2 hours in limewater. Drain, cover with fresh water, and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until tender. Add more water as needed. Let stand several hours or overnight. Drain. Put spices loosely in a clean, thin, white cloth, tie top tightly. Bring to boiling the spices, vinegar, 1 quart water and sugar. Add the watermelon rind and boil slowly for 2 hours, or until the syrup is fairly thick. Remove spice bag; pack watermelon rind in sterilized hot jars. Pour syrup over rind, filling jars to top. Seal tightly. Turn jars upside down. Do not move until cool.
  • 2
    Notes: Again, this is clearly a new world borrowing. My personal guess is that this must have come from Pennsylvania German (Amish) roots, but I won't swear to that, as a number of cooking histories claim these as belonging to various areas in the US, ranging from North Carolina to Maine.

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