Watermelon and rose water refresh summer's flavors

Q Our watermelons are coming in so sweet right now in California. What does your imagination tell you about new ways to eat it? A I know how sweet those melons are because I just tasted an organic beauty from your neighborhood and it was not only sugary, but had lots of intriguing flavors behind the sweetness.

I tasted watermelon water at a farmers' market in Louisville, and have improvised this method:

• Iced Watermelon Cooler Spiked With Lime. For four people, you want 8 cups of ripe, sweet watermelon (cut in 1/2-inch cubes) with the seeds removed. Put them in a blender or food processor with the grated rind of 1/4 medium lime and the juice of the lime. Purée. Add sugar to taste. If needed for contrast, add more lime juice. Strain the purée through a sieve, pressing down to get all the juice from the pulp. Chill. Moisten glass rims with lime juice, dip them in sugar and fill with ice. Add the watermelon water and garnish with skewers of melon chunks and mint leaves. Gin, vodka or rum are all good additions.

• Malay-Inspired Pickled Watermelon With Hot and Sweet Pork Salad. I tasted the original of this dish with its amazing plays of flavors and textures at New York City's Fatty Crab restaurant. It was done with pork belly, long cooked, then crisped. Because summer isn't the time for long, slow roasting of pork belly, here is a decent stand-in.

For four people, cut 12 or more 1-inch or larger cubes of ripe watermelon. Sprinkle them with 3 to 4 tablespoons of rice vinegar and gently coat them with a generous tablespoon of grated fresh ginger root. Season with a little salt. Set aside.

Now take four strips of thickly cut, good-tasting bacon. Roll them in equal parts brown sugar and hot chile powder and grill or cook on the stovetop about 4 minutes to a side, or until they are crisp and caramelized. Slice each strip into four pieces. Arrange on a platter with the room-temperature watermelon chunks. Scatter the platter with fresh mint and coriander, and a little rice vinegar. Sensational!

Q I had an absolutely spectacular piece of baklava flavored with rose water. The flavor was so refreshing, especially in the summer. How can I use rose water in other ways?

First, rose water is wonderful sprinkled on you in hot weather. Keep it in the refrigerator and use it as a light scent. Also add it to the rinse water when you wash linens and towels.

For more edible uses, think anything creamy, pastries and sweet breads, and syrups for fruit and sorbets.

Start with small amounts, such as 1/8 teaspoon, and taste for more. Use it in panna cotta, whipped cream, softened vanilla ice cream, sour cream, frostings and custard pies. Make an iced yogurt drink with whole-milk yogurt puréed with honey, ice and a little rose water. Garnish the drink with unsprayed rose petals. You could also add rose water to lemonade, along with rose petals or mint leaves.

Pastry takes to rose water (like that baklava). For pie crust, add a teaspoon per recipe; for cookies and shortbread, start with a teaspoon and work up from there.

Rose-water syrup is basically 1/2 cup sugar, 11/2 cups water and 1 teaspoon rose water. Simmer the water and sugar until clear, then add the rose water and cool. A cinnamon stick or a few whole allspice could be added, as well. Use this syrup over fruits, pastries and cakes. The syrup keeps a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.