Watermelon with Fleur de Sel Recipe

Fresh Food Fast | HarperCollins, 2004

The simplest and best dessert I know.

Extremely versatile, salt can balance flavor, tone down acidity, and highlight sweetness, especially that of the porous ruby fruit of watermelons. I use coarse sea salt, which contains essential minerals and has a gentle flavor, unlike refined table salt, which is bitter and almost completely lacking in minerals.–Peter Berley

LC Salty Sweet Surprise Note

As much as we find ourselves swooning over a wedge of watermelon and nothing else save for a stream of sticky juice dribbling down our chins, we’re also proponents of watermelon plus one. As in, watermelon plus a squeeze of lime. Watermelon plus a potent rub of gingerroot. Watermelon plus vodka, whether a shot taken as a chaser or a bottle harnessed as a sousing, er, dousing agent for the entire oblong melon. And watermelon plus a sprinkling of coarse, crunchy fleur de sel. This last one may be the simplest, most scintillating plus one we’ve tried, enhancing yet not obscuring the watery fruit’s inherent sweetness. A salty sweet surprise. Hello, summer.

Hands-On Time: 5 minutes | Total Time: 5 minutes | Serves 4

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Ingredients

1 chilled watermelon, seedless or not, any color
Pinch coarse fleur de sel

Directions

1. Slice a portion of the watermelon, rind and all, into 4 slices or wedges. Set the rest of it aside. (You’ll probably be back for more in a second.)
2. Sprinkle each wedge with a scant pinch of the fleur de sel.
3. Serve immediately. Go back for seconds.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Honeydew Melon Bellini from Laylita's Recipes
Plum and Berry Crumble from A Thought For Food
Watermelon Sorbet from Leite's Culinaria
Roasted Strawberries from Leite's Culinaria