Last Saturday, I spent a pleasant day volunteering at Fort Osage. Saying "volunteer" makes it sound like there is work involved, but it was really just a day of play. I sewed, talked to some visitors about the French fur trade, showed one curious little gal the kitchen in the trading post, showed another gal how to make some buttons, fed the mosquitoes, and enjoyed an al fresco lunch of sandwiches and watermelon. We were doing 18th century French creole impressions that day, which made the watermelon entirely appropriate. While they may have been wary of some New World foods, such as corn and tomatoes, the French quickly embraced the melons d'eau. One French traveler, after having tasted watermelon for the first time, described them as being like a "sponge soaked in Alicante wine dissolving in your mouth."
Though no one has been able to say for sure, it doesn't appear as though watermelons are actually native to the American continent. One belief that they are native to Africa, because Dr. Livingstone discovered fields of them growing wild there in the 1850s. According to this theory, they were brought to the eastern and southeastern coasts of America by slaves and Europeans, and from there quickly spread inward among the Indian tribes. What is known for sure is that 1629 is when the watermelon was first reported as being grown in what would be the United States (Massachusetts). Half a century later, in 1673, Marquette dined on watermelon (he says that despite being given great quantities of food, it was the only fruit they ate) when he traveled amongst the Indian tribes that lived on the Mississippi River.
After the Jesuit missions were established in areas such as Cahokia and Kaskaskia at the turn of the 18th century, it didn't take long for habitants to begin settling in, and establishing gardens. While the summers in French Canada had not been long enough or warm enough to grow a large variety of melons, they flourished in the summer heat of the Illinois country. The French preferred to surround their houses with a large lot that included a garden. If the lot were large enough a melon patch could be grown there; otherwise, it would have been added to the strip of agricultural land that the habitants cultivated. These strips ran in long rectangles over the bottomlands to the Mississippi River, and besides planting grain here, melons, pumpkins and other larger household crops could be grown. With summers in the 18th century being just as hot as summers in the 21st century, it is easy to imagine that the habitants would have enjoyed sitting on their galeries at the end of a hot day and eating slices of watermelon that had been kept cool in the shade all day, while the children spit the seeds at each other.
Watermelons were just as loved by Americans as by the French. Mark Twain's quote in Puddn'head Wilson waxes poetic about the melon, and Thomas Jefferson grew rows of differing varieties of watermelon in his experimental gardens at Monticello. He was not the only planter to grow these, for he also wrote in his Notes on the State of Virginia, that "The gardens yield musk melons, water melons, tomatas, okra, pomegranates, figs, and the esculent plants of Europe" (as an aside, it is fun to note how he spelled "tomatas" and his daughter Patsy spelled "winders", for they tended to spell things as they pronounced them). Earlier in the 18th century, John Custis of Williamsburg noted that one of his slaves grew a "multitude" of melons.
The first American cookbook, American Cookery, (American Cookery 1796) by Amelia Simmons, explains how to make "American citron":
"Take the rine of a large watermelon not too ripe, cut it into small pieces, take two pound of loaf sugar, one pint of water, put it all into a kettle, let it boil gently for four hours, then put it into pots for use." 18th and 19th century Americans also liked to toast the watermelon seeds, like we do with pumpkin seeds today. Americans embraced the watermelon enough to make it a centerpiece of many county fairs, with melon-growing and seed spitting contests often taking center stage, well into the present time. The watermelon has become a traditional part of summer picnics and 4th of July celebrations all over the US.
Both the Bolduc House in Ste. Genevieve, MO, and Fort de Chartres in Prairie du Rocher, IL, have beautiful reproduction gardens where heirloom fruits and vegetables are grown, including a variety of melons.
http://www.fdcjardin.com/
http://www.bolduchouse.com/index_files/Page641.htm
Toasted Watermelon Seeds
1 cup raw, rinsed watermelon seeds (the black ones, not the teeny white ones)
olive oil
sea salt
Spread the seeds out and let them dry for a while, either indoors or in the sun. After drying, place them in a large Ziploc bag and toss them with about a Tbsp of olive oil. Preheat the oven to 325. Spread the seeds over a baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Vodka Spiked Watermelon
1 750 ml bottle of mid-grade vodka (Smirnoff is a good one)
1 chilled watermelon (about 10 lbs), WITH seeds
The watermelon should be whole, not pre-cut. Before you open the vodka, use the lid as a guide to cut a plug from the watermelon. Cut it about 2 inches deep, do NOT throw this piece away. Cut another small circle of watermelon out a few inches from the first, again, do NOT throw this away. Use a long wooden spoon handle or thicker skewer to push down in the first hole. Open the vodka, and carefully turn it upside down into the first hole, and let it drain (the second hole is for air flow). When it is done, put the plugs back in, and let the melon sit for at least half an hour. Enjoy watching everyone get stupid after they dig in!
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