Water Melon - A Natural Viagra? Part II

THIRD RECIPE

Karpouzi Glyko - Watermelon spoon sweet

Spoon sweets are sweet preserves, served in a spoon (occasionally with a small fork) as a gesture of hospitality.

They can be made from almost any fruit, though sour and bitter fruits are especially prized. There are even spoon sweets made from vegetables.

Whole fruit preserves can be found in most Greek and Cypriot homes. They are made by slowly simmering fruit in water and sugar over several hours or days, until the syrup sets. A small quantity of lemon juice is often added to preserve the fruit’s original colour, as well as to prevent sugar from crystallizing. The method of preparation is essentially similar to that of marmalade, except that fruit pieces remain whole.

Some of the fruits that are used include citrus (bitter oranges), grapes, mulberries, bergamot, apricots, cherries, oranges, sour cherries, lemons, pomegranates, quinces, strawberries, apples, dates, figs, prunes, and tangerines. Other varieties include vegetables, pistachios, hazelnuts, green (immature) walnuts and other nuts, and flower petals like rose or citrus flower blossoms. Many fruits or parts of fruits that are normally inedible, such as citrus peel and water melon rind, can be made into sweet, flavourful preserves, as can unripe nuts and vegetables such as eggplant and carrots.

Some years back they used to add food colour like grenadine etc., to red spoon sweets. but nowadays they have been forbidden as they are considered dangerous to health and usually retain the original shape, colour, aroma and taste of the fruit.

The method used to make the spoon sweets crunchier was to soak the fruit in solution of quicklime dissolved in water. They let it rest for two or more hours and then washed the fruit very well and proceeded to make the sweet.

Spoon sweets are usually offered to guests served by the teaspoon in a small china or crystal dish, with coffee or tea and cold water. Originally they used to serve them in a big bowl where everybody would take a piece from there in order to prove that there was no poison in it. I remember them served in bowls made of pure silver, sort of basket shaped which had places for the silver spoons to stand round the basket, which was filled with the spoon sweets.

Karpouzi Glyko - Watermelon spoon sweet

Makes 2 jars

Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 1.30 hours

Ingredients

The rind of a watermelon
1 1/2 kilo of sugar per 1 kilo of rind
3 glasses of water
4 - 5 spoonfuls of lemon juice
a few leaves of fragrant geranium (αρμπαρόριζα) or apple geranium, or if you don’t have any 1 spoonful of vanilla essence
2- 3 spoonfuls of lemon juice for the final stage

Directions

In order to make this spoon sweet the rind should be at least two centimetres thick. Cut slices about 6 - 8 cm. and remove the outer green skin and as much red flesh as you can. (The watermelon I bought was not so thick so some pink flesh is visible but try not to leave any).

Cut each slice into smaller pieces about 5 - 6 centimetres long.

Put the peel pieces into a large bowl and cover with cold water and the lemon juice and leave it for an hour. (At this stage if you have quicklime (asvesti) dissolve 1 cup in 2 litres of water and soak the rind for an hour. I want to say here that it is better to use pickling lime if you can find some. However, when my mother used to make spoon sweets and her mother used to make some there wasn’t any picking lime and they would go to constructions and ask for some quick lime.

Rinse thoroughly before proceeding to next step). Drain the peel into a large colander and rinse under cold water. Return to the bowl, cover with fresh cold water and leave to soak for a further 30 minutes, then drain thoroughly. Dissolve the sugar in the water in a large saucepan, then bring to a gentle simmer. Add the drained peel, cover and slowly simmer for about 1.30 hours until the syrup is dense. When ready, the ‘glyko’ turns a shade of transparent yellow.

Remove from the heat and add the geranium leaves (or vanilla) and lemon juice and toss saucepan.

Transfer to sterilised jars and store in the fridge. Spoon sweets are always served with a cold glass of iced water.

You might also like other spoon sweets I have made:

About Spoon sweets
How do we know if syrup is ready?
How to fix spoon sweets
Bitter oranges
Bergamot
Sour cherries
Apples
Karydaki (green (immature) walnuts)

I am submitting this recipe to Archana, from Archana’s Kitchen, hosting this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, created by Kalyn, of Kalyn’s Kitchen

Tags: Spoon Sweets