Gelo di Melone

A Sicilian Taste of Summer

I have a weakness for all things sweet which is not surprising given that my name Helou means sweet! It is a little far fetched but it remains that I have a very sweet tooth. And one of the summer desserts that I love in Sicily is gelo di melone, or watermelon ‘pudding’. Apart from the fact that it is the most beautiful red colour, I love how seasonal it is. You can only make it in summer when watermelons are at their sweeetest best. The main ingredient is watermelon juice that is cooked with sugar and cornstarch to produce a kind of egg-free ‘custard’ that has a heady hint of exotica because of an added splash of jasmine water (jasmine flowers infused in water). Once done, the pudding is mixed with candied gourd (or zucca lunga as it is known in Sicily) and chocolate chips before being poured into individual bowls where it sets into a rather gummy jelly. I prefer to put the candied fruit and chocolate on the bottom of the bowl; often I do not use them at all. I also use less cornstarch than the classic recipe because I prefer the ‘pudding’ to be more wobbly. As a result, I cannot unmould mine like you would with pannacotta which many do, but I do not find this to be a problem as the gelo is just as beautiful served in pretty bowls. In Sicily it is usually dusted with a little cinnamon and garnished with jasmine flowers but I often use slivered pistachios as I do not often have access to the pretty flowers.

Sicilians like the Lebanese do not use eggs in their puddings, or even in their ice creams which they thicken with either cornstarch or carob flour.

Anyhow, the first time I tasted gelo di melone was some 25 years ago, when I visited Sicily for the first time, armed with Mary Taylor Simeti’s book, Pomp and Sustenance, 25 centuries of Sicilian food. I had been invited by a friend who had rented the dreamiest property near Noto. It was late in the summer and the jasmine, that covered most of the walls, was still in bloom. And of course there were plenty of gorgeous watermelons in the markets. The cook who came with the property was rather gruff and she was not interested in preparing either the gelo di melone nor the jasmine granita that I had asked her to. However, I was really keen to try both, having never heard of jasmine ice cream or granita before, and neither of the gelo di melone. So, I bought a watermelon and I set out early one morning to pick enough jasmine flowers to infuse in water for both the granita and the gelo. I proceeded to make both, using Mary’s recipes. The granita was one of the headiest I have ever had with such a strong flavour of jasmine that it seemed almost like a drug, while the little jasmine water that I added to the gelo gave it an intriguing and rather exotic taste.

I didn’t know Mary then but I had read her book cover to cover practically and every other day, I would point out one of her recipe to the cook asking if she could prepare it. She was not very good not to mention not very accommodating but I still tried, though to no avail!

Regardless, my first try at making the gelo got me addicted, and I even adapted Mary’s recipe to include it in my Mediterranean street food book, which I was researching then.

I tested it in London when I got back using a watermelon that had been imported from Jordan and it came out beautifully. I also made it in Lebanon, for my beautiful mother before she left us and it also came out really well there. It is basically a universal pudding as long as you can get your hands on very good watermelon. As for the jasmine water, you can replace it with vanilla like Mary suggests in her book but I don’t like vanilla, so sometimes I add rose water but it is just as good plain.

Here is the recipe which I made the other day when I saw great watermelons at my greengrocer in Trapani.