Water Melon Preserve

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 50, 7 June 1940, Page 44

Water Melon Preserve

Dear Aunt Daisy, Have you a recipe for water melon konfyt? My husband used to have it in South Africa as a boy, and is always talking about it. I’ve never been able to find a recipe in any bock. It is made from the skins, and there is lime in it. -"Faithtul," (Papatoetoe). Strangely enough, I have some South African recipes, and here is just the one you want. Take the peel off a ripe water melon. Peel off the green outer rind, and remove most of the pink portion of the fruit inside. You could eat that, or use it in a salad. Prick each piece thoroughly with a fork, and then cut into the desired shapes. Steep the rind for twelve hours in a solution of lime water, using. one tablespoon of lime to every 3 quarts (that is six pints) of cold water. Then rinse the peel thoroughly in fresh water, drain and boil gently in water for about half an hour. In the meantime, dissolve the sugar in boiling water, allowing six pounds of sugar to every five pounds: of peel; and three cups of water to every cup of sugar. Add the drained peel, and cook gently until the peel is clear and transparent. You can also add for flavouring two ounces of bruised ginger, or stick cinnamon, tied up in a muslin bag.