Do You Salt ? or Not ?

The other day I was in the office with a few other people at lunch time.  I was ready to dig into a ripe, juicy slice of cantelope.  I automatically reached for the salt shaker to sprinkle some on my cantelope.  It was delicious until I noticed 2 people looking at me like I was crazy and or really wierd and making that horrified, "eeewhh" type face.  What's wrong? What did I do ? ? 

The two people explained that they were grossed out because I put salt on my melon and why the heck did I do that?  I've always sprinkled salt on cantelope, waltermelon & honeydew melon.  In fact, I won't even eat any of these without salt (especially the honeydew melon).  They just don't taste right without it.  Salting melon comes second nature to me.

From the time I was a little kid, I remember eating watermelon outside at the beach or backyard in the summertime with my parents and brothers.  It was always served already sprinkled with salt or with the shaker right there beside it.  I even remember putiing salt on apples when I was growing up.

I think it is a Southern thing, a below the Mason - Dixon line custom.  My mother is from Virginia, my Dad from Maryland and I can't remember any of my relatives, at family gatherings that did not think sprinkling salt on melon was not the only way you eat it. 

The 2 people that were confused (horrified) the other day were from Wisconsin and Canada.



So, do you salt or not?