Watermelon is a bright, tasty, juicy, and most importantly healthy berry, which is often served at the holiday table in the summer and autumn. But not everyone knows that the striped giant can be made even tastier if served in an original and beautiful form. What options for cutting berries are there? How to serve watermelon effectively and originally? How should it be cut so that guests eat each piece with pleasure, without being embarrassed by others and without fear of getting dirty?
Popular design types
What types of cutting are there? The most common are the following:
- By type of cake. First of all, remove the top and base, and then cut it into two equal halves. Each of them is then cut into pieces of a standard size.
- For celebrations. Remove the top (for example, with a cleaver) and cut into 4 pieces. Then remove the pulp from the crust (take a knife with an elongated blade without serrations) and leave it directly on it. To make it easier to eat, the pulp is cut directly into the crust. When serving, place a fork nearby.
- For the salad. Cut the watermelons into squares of the required size. This is easy to do - remove the skin and place the pulp on a cutting board. Hold the knife parallel and cut circles, and then long strips (to prevent them from falling apart, their width should not be less than 2 cm). After this they are divided into cubes.
All of the above methods are very easy to implement and will not take much time.
You can cut the striped plant crosswise. This technique is classic. Just cut it down the middle along a horizontal line and divide it into several more equal pieces. If the fruit is very small, you can simply eat its pulp with a spoon.
Slicing a watermelon for a celebration
This fruit is simply an ideal product to demonstrate your creative nature to everyone. The following types of serving will help you decorate your holiday table beautifully and amaze your guests:
- In the form of spheres. For this purpose, you can take a spoon that has sharp edges. But the most convenient device for making watermelon balls remains a noisette. To make the spheres look very beautiful, place them in a transparent glass vase or bowl. You can wow your guests by adding melon balls. The aroma will not leave anyone indifferent.
- In the form of figures. Regular cookie cutters will work for this method. At the initial stage, the fruit is cut into slices, and then pressed, as it were, with molds. Such figures would be appropriate at children's parties. They are drizzled with chocolate sauce or topped with whipped cream. The resulting products look like cupcakes.
- Like ice cream. Of course, this is not a natural ice cream, but it will also turn out very tasty. To prepare such a delicacy, the fruit is thoroughly washed, dried and cut into triangles. Each base is cut with a knife and a special wooden stick is stuck into it. Pour melted white chocolate over the dessert and sprinkle with chopped nuts.
In addition to the options listed, others can be used. For example, divide the watermelon into arbitrary circles, diamonds or squares and thread them onto skewers. The result is a canape that is very refreshing in the heat. You can coat each layer with liquid honey or butter cream. Condensed milk is also perfect (it’s better to take boiled milk).
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For children's birthday
If you are planning a child's birthday, prepare a watermelon hedgehog. Free the striped plant from the crust, but not completely. There should be about one quarter left.
Where the skin remains, cut out a triangle. Then insert it back to create a mouth and nose. Blueberries will serve as eyes. To imitate the animal's needle-like back, cut out triangles using a flexible knife from the freed portion of the flesh. Then sticks or toothpicks are inserted into it. This will help enhance the resemblance to a forest animal.
When serving, place the hedgehog in a box and place apples and pears next to it. The children will be delighted!
Ice cream on a skewer
If you think that curly cutting is beyond your capabilities, but you want something unusual, try to master the following simple method. All you need to do is cut the watermelon into triangles and insert ice cream skewers into the rind.
If you like this method, you won't even need to worry about the aspect ratios. Cut the watermelon the way that is most convenient for you, without worrying about it. Bright fruit ice cream will look impressive and appetizing in any case.
Children will especially enjoy these treats. They are not as easy to get dirty as regular large slices, and in design they resemble the ice cream so beloved by children. In addition, it will be easier for you to get rid of the seeds. This idea can be very useful for those who are planning a party for kids.
Slicer for even slices
For those who love traditional slicing of this aromatic delicacy, we recommend purchasing a slicer. It is especially suitable if you eat watermelons often and don’t want the extra hassle. This will allow you to get even slices.
Place the device on top, placing it on the base, and lower the handles downwards. To cut a ripe fruit, you need to make a very tiny effort, but the resulting result is worth it.
The knives in the slicer will not destroy the pulp and will easily remove even the thickest peel. Consider the diameter of such a device when buying fruit in a store. It must be remembered that neat slices will only appear if the circumference of the fruit and the device are correctly selected.
Don’t throw away watermelon rinds, because you can make fragrant candied fruits from them. Peel them from the outer skin and cut them as desired. Add sugar (for 500 g of slices you need to take exactly half as much) and add 2 g of citric acid. Bring to a boil, and then cook over low heat. Can be supplemented with a pinch of vanillin. Use a slotted spoon to place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and let dry. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and delicious candied fruits are ready!
How to cut a small watermelon
If you are planting small watermelons or bought such a miniature fruit at the market, you can use a special slicing option for them. At the beginning it is divided into identical parts. After this, the white pulp and crust are cut off. Next, place the half in a cup of suitable size so that its top lies at the bottom. Then it is cut crosswise and lengthwise into 4 pieces, which can be eaten immediately.
Not everyone knows that if you don’t have a knife at hand, an ordinary coin will help you cut the fruit. Don't forget to wash it well! Insert the coin into the peel and press down lightly so that it fits inside. This will cause the skin to burst. Then you can eat the watermelon with a spoon. Small fruits are best suited for this method.
What is a super knife for?
A unique super-knife for watermelon will help you not only get neat slices of your favorite fruit, but also prepare delicious snacks and desserts, the main components of which will be in an ideal geometric shape. This can pleasantly surprise your guests. This is a real find for those who prefer beauty and neatness in everything. All 12 blades are made of stainless steel, which will allow you to use the slicer for its intended purpose for many years. The diameter of the device is 25 cm.
Many large restaurants and cafes use this unique device, since watermelon or melon dishes turn out really beautiful, and it takes very little time to process.
Cutting methods depending on the area
The options presented below are perfect for parties and buffets. And you can cope with cutting the juicy pulp in 5 minutes:
- Mexicans cut watermelons into cubes. To do this, the green, aromatic berry is divided into two equal halves. What comes out is cut into slices, and then into small neat squares. All that remains is to turn the cutting board along with the cubes into a plate and the sweet treat is ready! You can use these squares as the basis for a stunning salad. It is enough to supplement them with blackberries, raspberries and low-fat yogurt. Young children will really like this dish.
- The Turkish way of slicing requires a large number of guests. Also, once served, it must be completely eaten immediately or it will spoil. To begin with, the fruit is completely peeled (it is most convenient to do this with a large knife). Then the delicious berry is divided into 4 servings, and then each of them into small pieces. We guarantee that your guests will be delighted because this method will not leave any traces of juice on your clothes. You just need to pick up the watermelon with a fork and put it in your mouth.
- Quite an interesting cutting method among Astrakhan residents. The round fruit is cut into two parts and the top is removed (on one side only). After this, the berries are placed on a dish with the lower part, which is not cut off. Next, the fruit is cut into equal segments, like a regular cake, after which it will fall apart in the form of a “rose.” The same should be done with the other half.
If you purchased a mini watermelon, cut it into a “rose” shape.
Video
There are many other wonderful methods for cutting a watermelon without using special equipment, but all of them are aimed at maximizing the decoration of any table with such a dessert. Eating this berry should not be associated with the fact that you will get dirty. Carefully cut the fruit into beautiful slices so that your guests will truly enjoy an aesthetically presented meal. Watch below two videos about how to easily cut a watermelon in 30 seconds and how to prepare and cut a huge berry before serving in Uzbekistan.
How to quickly cut a watermelon in 30 seconds
Interesting presentation
You can use a method in which the fruit is placed in a kind of basket made of peel. It is best to take the peel from another watermelon for this purpose.
Scoop out the pulp using a special spoon with a very long handle. Proceed carefully, otherwise you can easily damage the future table decoration. After this, you need to turn the watermelon peel over (place a large basin first) so that all the juice can drain.
To make the product even more beautiful, cut the edges in the form of small triangles. If you try really hard, you can make some kind of waves or even stick toothpicks with berries strung on them into the edge of the fruit. Decorating the edges of the basket with cherries or cranberries will look very impressive.
What to look for when choosing a set of knives for decorative cutting of vegetables and fruits
The kitchen does not need a full set of knives for decorative cutting of vegetables and fruits, because there are more than 17 shapes, and the housewife only needs to have multifunctional products:
- universal, which can be used to peel, cut, and make beautiful, not too complicated figures;
- Y-shaped, similar to a straight razor, but actually safe and allows you to peel a mountain of vegetables in a matter of minutes, chop them into thin curly strips, spirals, apply a pattern to the surface, and carefully remove the zest;
- for removing the core, which is useful for every day, used for canning fruits, preparing hookahs;
- with a zigzag blade, you can use it to chop fruit into strips or make wide slices with a wavy surface;
- with serrated sharpening, which perfectly cuts tomatoes, but also cleans any fruit.
This will be enough for routine cooking and holiday cooking, when you need to beautifully serve fruit or decorate a cake with it.
How to eat watermelon correctly
How to eat such a juicy berry? According to the rules of etiquette, the watermelon is taken by the green base and placed on a plate. As for the hands, they are blotted with a paper napkin. Cut off a little bit from each portion and scoop out the seeds with a fork.
If a seed does end up in your mouth, place it on the edge of the plate, after spitting it out onto the tip of the cutlery (do this without others noticing). You can use a napkin for this purpose.
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