Jesse Goldstein, come from making the most of scraps. Pickling watermelon rind turns the part you’d normally discard into a tart-sweet bite to pair with cheese and bread before the main event.
Ingredients
- Rind from 1 watermelon
- ¼ cup (70 g) pickling salt
- 1 cup (240 ml) white vinegar
- ¾ cup (180 ml) cider vinegar
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 star anise pods
- 8 whole cloves
- 6 allspice berries
How to Make It
- Prepare the rind by first removing the majority of ripe fruit, leaving a small amount on the rind. Peel off the outer green skin and cut the rind into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces. Measure out 5 cups for pickling and place them in a heat-safe bowl (discard any extra or make a second batch of pickles).
- Bring 6 cups (1.4 L) of water and the pickling salt to a boil and pour it over the watermelon rind. Let the rind sit and cool to room temperature before covering and refrigerating it overnight.
- Drain the salted water from the rind. Add both vinegars and the sugar, cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, and allspice to a small saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Cover and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Pour the hot pickling syrup over the watermelon rind. Refrigerate it overnight.
- Drain the pickling syrup from the rinds into a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and pour it over the rinds again; cover and refrigerate overnight. Repeat this process three to four times, until the pieces of watermelon rind no longer float in the pickling liquid.
- Pickled watermelon rinds will keep for 2 to 3 weeks in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
