My husband salts his. I think it's gross.

Yeah, every now and then. It's good on blander watermelon and apples.
My mother says yes, my father and my brother say no.

(b)

I have never even heard of such an action, My first instinct is to say (b), but then I'e never tried it, so maybe there's some secret yumminess I'm missing out on.

Nope. No secret yumminess. I've tried it and its weird.

(d) It's ok, but I'd rather save my salt to torture slugs.

My husband insists that the salt brings out the sweetness. I tried it once and it didn't taste any sweeter, but it sure did taste a hell of a lot saltier.

I ask my husband why he doesn't salt his bananas and his ice cream and his strawberry yogurt and his brownies and his apple pie if he really believes this "salt brings out the sweetness" theory. He hasn't salted any of those yet, at least that I know of.

My roommate salts her watermelon, but she also puts sugar on her baked potatoes. I just figure she's confused.

(b)

I've heard cooks say that salt brings out sweetness -- usually as they add a pinch of it to pound cake or something. So I suspect the devil is in the details: just a little bit of salt.

But watermelon tastes fine on its own to me, it don't need no doctorin'. My wife does lots of weird stuff like this, though.

(B), but I do love feta cheese (which is salty) with watermelon... I used to eat this combo even before I moved to Greece.

Wow, tough crowd. Good thing I didn't go with my alternate question:

Sour cream on pickles?

(both this and the salt thing are yummy, IMO - it's not that the salt "brings out the sweetness", but that with salt, watermelon just tastes better)

A.

Also salt canteloupes and honeydews.

As far as the alternate question... I'm lactose intolerant, but if I wasn't, I'd give it a try. I'd also have some

Buttermilk soup?

(which consists of buttermilk and cottage cheese)

I've tried it (watermelon & salt). It's OK.

However, I learned from a Gullah acquaintance that salting lemons makes them tolerable to eat raw. (Tolerable, mind you, not necessarily tasty.)

Mandatory, also on cantaloupe.

I've heard of people that squeeze lemon juice on watermelon, too, but I've never tried it.

I could go either way with the salt on the watermelon, though the rest of my family puts it on theirs.

Pepper and canteloupe, though -- now that's mighty tasty!

You fruit-salting people are hideous freaks and affronts to nature and sanity itself.

true that.

Also salt canteloupes and honeydews.

Agree 100% on the cantaloupes, but at least to my taste buds, salt doesn't add any "tasty" to honeydew. Which is why, when confronted with a fruit salad platter containing chunks of all three, I will only eat the honeydew - since I can't very well salt the individual chunks of the others.

Absolutely yes. salt on all melons. salt AND pepper on cantaloupe, honeydew, and most other melons but no pepper on watermelon, please.

Sugar on tomatoes? (family tradition that i can't abide).

Never did the salt on fruits thing, but my nonna used to sprinkle sugar on raw egg yolk and stir it together to create something she called an "egg frosting." It's a pesani dessert, apparently. Me and my siblings loved it as kids.

No, no, no - salt goes on tomatoes too. They're fruits too, you know!

and jon, are you sure your nonna wasn't just trying to frost your arteries?

Honeydew and cantaloupe both taste like soap dipped in honey to me, and I find watermelon obnoxiously sweet, so no: never tried it, but probably will someday, when I eventually give watermelon another chance.

and jon, are you sure your nonna wasn't just trying to frost your arteries?

Nah, but she has maybe 5 teeth left, so maybe she was trying to create a family resemblance, as it were.

Oh, hell yes! I can't believe people eat watermelon WITHOUT salt.

I also like salt on apples. (Not as much as peanut butter, though.)

I've never been much for cantaloupes and honeydews, but people in my family do the salt and pepper thing on those.

The idea of salting lemons sounds intriguing. Eating straight lemon is bad for your tooth enamel, though, so I'm afraid to try it for fear I'll really like it.

That's like unncecessary genital mutilation.

Now peanut butter on a green apple? I can dig it.

And yes, yhbc: a little salt on a garden warm tomato, (and a dash of black pepper) is heavenly. Sugar on a tomato? Neutralize!

I dislike melon of any type. However where I grew up (northwestern PA), everyone salted their watermelon.

A freakishly tasty but strange sounding sandwich:

Bread: Use almost anything, but these are ideally suited for little sandwich rolls of almost any sort. Sourdough would be nice, cheap white or wheat dinner rolls are also nice. Scale to fit.

On a sliced open roll put:

Sharp, tangy, spicy mustard. Browns or deli preferred. That yellow runny American shit called "French's" probably wouldn't do. Put some on both sides. No mayo, no catsup, no pickles or relish. Only mustard!

A slice or slab of sharp chedder. Orange American style or real white English Cheddar. Either. Other tangy-sharp cheeses may be combined or substituted, but Cheddar is by far the best. Gorgonzola, Blue or perhaps even a crumble of Stilton would probably also be tasty. Brie is good as well, but the secret is Cheddar.

A slab, slice or few slivers of raw onion - to taste. Red. White. Yellow. Sweet. Whatever.

A crisp slice or three of tangy apple. Those freakishly large Red Delicious apples are probably not tangy enough, and too pithy, and not crisp enough. Go for Fujis, Granny Smiths, Galas, Braeburns. Tart!

Eat. Be amazed. Enjoy pleasant mouth orgasm sensations.

They're excellent day-hike treats on a warm day, as the ingredients are portable, and they're easy to make. In fact I'd say they're best eaten out doors with friends.

I just had the most amazingly wonderful thing yesterday in Mexico: Take watermelon and guava cut into large julienne strips and place them in a cup with a pointy side up. Add chili powder (the lady I bought this from used a mixture called 'pico' which is readily available down here) liberally on the top. Coat the tops well, then squeeze some fresh lime juice (she used the tiny key limes) over the powder so it melts down into the fruit. Eat with a toothpick. It was so freaking good, I wanted to lay down and scream.

But salt-no way. Ack.

Loq, yours sounds like it'd be a close second. Except for the onions. Onions were made by Satan.

i bet i would like this. but i'm not about to buy a watermelon to try it.


and that sandwich sounds awesome. fruit and cheese, mmmm!