# How DARE you salt that watermelon! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 27, 2000, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034 "2000-07-27T11:55:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![deepstblu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@deepstblu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deepstblu)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034/101 "2000-08-10T02:14:28Z")
I’m surprised that nobody here has mentioned eating pretzels with your ice cream…just enough salt to take the edge off the sweetness. ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034/102 "2000-08-10T02:37:43Z")
I never saw anyone put salt on watermelon until I moved to Ohio from New Jersey. Didn’t bother me, I just assumed it was a regional thing, like vinegar on fries. But what I did find disturbing was people eating watermelon WITH A KNIFE AND FORK. ---
**Author:** ![Notluf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/fbc32d/32.png) [@Notluf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Notluf)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034/103 "2000-08-10T04:09:59Z")
Well, I posted about the peanuts in Coke, but totally forgot: I too salt my watermelon, and just about any other melon I find. I also like to take a tomato, slice it up, salt AND pepper it, then eat it. Something about pepper on a tomato! Sometimes, though not often, a smear of mayonaise across the tomato before the S/P is also excellent! ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034/104 "2000-08-10T04:27:19Z")
Chalk up another one in the “have tried it, didn’t like it” category. Watermelon is THE most perfect food, and salt only detracts, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Zanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/fbc32d/32.png) [@Zanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zanna)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034/105 "2000-08-10T06:06:10Z")
Salting the watermelon used to be done by halophiles and by others when the watermelon was not sweet enough. Salt (NaCl) is also slightly sweet. Modern watermelons seldom need salting. Years ago, salting one’s coffee was commonly done in restaurants to cut the bitterness of the cheap brews. Modern coffees are way to good to need this. Modern cantalopes are also very sweet, but for years I would first taste the cantalope and if it were sweet I just ate it. If it wasn’t I first salted it and tasted it again. If still not sweet enough I put black pepper on it and ate it as a vegetable. Good that way too. It’s my theory tho that people salt and pepper their food mostly because our modern food is too darn clean. We keep missing the slightly gritty, unusually flavored and textured wild natural foods we evolved to eat. So, we add some clean dirt (salt) and some artificial insect parts (pepper) and then enjoy. 🙂 Zanna ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034/106 "2000-08-10T13:59:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by deepstblu \* > \*\*I’m surprised that nobody here has mentioned eating pretzels with your ice cream…just enough salt to take the edge off the sweetness. \*\* I resisted trying chocolate covered pretzels till someone bought a bunch into the office. They are GREAT–sweet and salty. I really love the white chocolate coated ones. Pretzels washed down with orange juice is really good too. I guess they make porn and beans for us vegetarians. ---
**Author:** ![AETBOND417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@AETBOND417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AETBOND417)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034/107 "2000-08-10T15:16:43Z")
I happen to have watermelon available, so I tried it out last night. Not too bad, but I wouldn’t make a habit of it. It’s also difficult to get the right amount. Sometimes it’s undetectable, other times it is oversalted. ---
**Author:** ![Kepi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kepi/32/7251_2.png) [@Kepi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kepi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034/108 "2000-08-10T17:12:18Z")
Just wanted to mention that I had watermelon and cantaloupe last night, and of course I salted them. Brought some leftovers for lunch today, and if I can find some salt around here, you can bet I’ll use it! ---
**Author:** ![zekitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e95f7d/32.png) [@zekitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zekitty)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034/109 "2000-08-20T03:17:42Z")
you know ill have to try salting a watermelon I have noticed that watermelons arent really the sweetest thing ever I wonder what salt would do to it hmmmm well I will have to see and find out. ---
**Author:** ![Nukeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Nukeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nukeman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2000, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034/110 "2000-09-04T20:12:19Z")
Ive never tried melon with salt, but parma ham is very salty, and you eat that with melon. ---
**Author:** ![Nukeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Nukeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nukeman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2000, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034/111 "2000-09-04T20:14:54Z")
what do you mean by ‘artificial insect parts’? ---
**Author:** ![Meephead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b782af/32.png) [@Meephead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meephead)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034/112 "2000-09-05T01:09:13Z")
I’ll take all these posts with a grain of salt:D, but I’ll have my watermelon salt-free. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034/113 "2000-09-05T19:29:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nukeman \* > \*\*what do you mean by ‘artificial insect parts’? \*\* I think zanna was referring to the appearance of ground pepper. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dare-you-salt-that-watermelon/27034.md?page=5)