Mousse All’Anguria – Water Melon Mousse

When it gets really hot in Venice there are a few possibilities to cool down,  I mean culinarywise. One of my favorites during these really hot days called  le giornate di solleone is a slice of anguria (water melon). Did you know that anguria grows right around the corner ? The Veneto is the third largest producer of water melons in northern Italy.

Here I’m taking you for a stroll on Strada Nova in the early afternoon. The Rialto Market is closed by now and Venice is taking a rest from the heat. Yet these market stalls are open and offer delicious-looking angúria with light green and emerald-colored stripes outside.

Eating a few slices of anguria warm from the sun so not to disturb your stomach always works when you’re really thirsty. Water melons are so rich in water and vitamins A and C. Even when we keep anguria in the fridge, we wait for half an hour before we eat it. Never eat fruit from the fridge, my grandmother would say.

Anguria grows mostly in the provinces of Rovigo and Padua but also around Verona and Treviso. You don’t find large-scale cultivation in the Lagoon, though.

We love eating anguria as appetizer with Prosciutto di San Daniele.  Choose a  slightly smoked variant of prosciutto and make salsa verde, a refreshing green sauce, consisting of prezzemolo (parsley), capers and chili, all mixed with olive oil and worked into a pesto.

We also love  mousse all’anguria, water melon mousse as dessert and between courses. Cut a few slices of anguria into tiny pieces, smash them and mix them with a few tablespoons almond milk. Add a hint of cardamom and cane sugar, then put the mousse into the fridge for half an hour. Wonderful to nourish your skin from inside, by the way !!