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Watermelon - The fruit of Crete's Summer

If Greek summer was a fruit, it would definitely be a juicy watermelon ... 

What would summer in Crete be without the juicy sweet thirst-quenching delicacy?

Wonderful we love Summer, swimming, the sea, blue skies, easy living, travel .... but we absolutely love watermelon or karpouzi (in Greek) as well.

The watermelon is simply a delicious snack, a fruity summer dessert and also refreshes in smoothies or sorbets. The secret is the high water content of around 95%, which makes watermelon a super healthy and low-calorie food.

The fruit contains a large number of vitamins and minerals, but only in very small amounts due to its high water content.

Because of its pink flesh, it is a good source of beta-carotene, the precursor to vitamin A, which protects our skin from UV radiation and counteracts the aging process in a most intelligent way.

It is believed watermelons were first found growing wild in the savannas south of the Sahara and in the oases of Southern Africa. It was hardly bigger than an apple and had a rather bitter taste. In hot, dry, and sandy areas of the world, watermelons still grow in the wild and are known as tsamma melons. They are still valued today as a supplier of water and a rich, protein-rich porridge can be made from roasted seeds.

Sometimes we count the watermelons in order to judge how sweet the Summer was.

In my opinion, the best place to buy a watermelon is from a village greengrocer (manavi) because they are the freshest and you we do help the local economy.

And now you want to select a ripe, red, fresh watermelon. How?

1. Look for a yellow or cream-colored spot. Every watermelon has a non-green side that sat on the ground to grow. If this is yellow, it's ripe ... buy it.

2. Look for a stem that is still green. The greener the stem, the fresher the watermelon. Be careful sometimes the "good" grocers cut off the stems. 

3. Pick up it and feel that it is heavy. You are looking for high water content.

4. Listen for a high-pitched hollow sound. When you thump a watermelon, it should not thump, it should sound high-pitched like a hitting drum.

Kali Orexi!

# Image by Manousos Daskalogiannis