Cooking with Watermelon
Recipes with Watermelon — Morocco's Summer Cooler for Salads and Juice
Watermelon (dellah) is the taste of the Moroccan summer — vast green-striped melons sold from roadside piles and donkey carts, split open into dripping crimson wedges to cool everyone through the heat. Mostly it is eaten chilled and plain, but it also becomes a bright refreshing juice, a salad with mint and salty cheese, and a partner to the honeyed melon on a summer fruit plate. This guide covers how Morocco enjoys watermelon, the trick to choosing a ripe one, and a few simple ways to dress it up.
How Moroccans enjoy watermelon
The Moroccan default is chilled wedges eaten plain, the simplest summer refreshment, often shared after a meal or in the heat of the afternoon. Beyond that, watermelon is blended into a fresh juice, sometimes with a little lemon or mint, and tossed into salads with mint and a salty cheese for a sweet-savoury contrast. It also pairs with sweet yellow melon (swihla) on a fruit plate. Watermelon is prized for hydration and coolness as much as flavour.
The best Moroccan ways with watermelon
Chilled watermelon wedges — the classic, sometimes with a pinch of salt to heighten the sweetness. Watermelon juice — blended and strained, with lemon and mint for lift. Watermelon, mint and cheese salad — sweet melon against salty jben or feta-style cheese and fresh mint. Melon fruit plate — watermelon with sweet yellow melon and grapes. Watermelon with orange-blossom water — a light perfumed touch. Simplicity is the whole point.
Choosing a ripe watermelon
Look for a melon that feels heavy for its size, with a creamy-yellow 'field spot' where it rested ripening on the ground — a white or green spot means it was picked too early. A ripe melon sounds hollow and deep when tapped. Vendors in Morocco will often cut a plug to show the red flesh. Keep watermelon cool and eat it within a few days of cutting. A pinch of salt on the cut flesh, a common trick, makes the sweetness pop.
Cook's tips
- Choose a melon heavy for its size with a creamy-yellow field spot; a white or green spot means underripe.
- Tap it — a ripe watermelon sounds deep and hollow.
- A tiny pinch of salt on the cut flesh heightens the sweetness.
- For salad, pair watermelon with mint and salty cheese for a sweet-savoury contrast.
- Blend and strain for juice, adding lemon and mint for lift.
Questions about cooking with Watermelon
How do I choose a ripe watermelon?
Pick one heavy for its size with a creamy-yellow field spot where it sat on the ground, and tap it — a ripe melon sounds deep and hollow. A white or green field spot means it was picked too soon.
Do Moroccans put salt on watermelon?
Some do — a small pinch of salt on the cut flesh heightens the natural sweetness. It is an optional touch, not universal, but a common trick.
Can watermelon go in a salad?
Yes — cubed watermelon with fresh mint and a salty cheese such as jben or feta makes a refreshing sweet-savoury summer salad, sometimes finished with a little olive oil or lemon.
How do I make Moroccan watermelon juice?
Blend deseeded watermelon flesh until smooth, strain if you like it thin, and add a squeeze of lemon and a few mint leaves. Serve well chilled over ice.
When is watermelon in season in Morocco?
High summer, when huge melons are sold from roadside piles across the country. It is the season's essential cooler.
Cook these dishes with a local in Marrakech
Learn to handle watermelon the Moroccan way in a hands-on cooking class, or taste it across the medina on a guided food tour.