Watermelon Shark
- Level: Intermediate
- Yield: 8 to 10 servings
- Total: 1 hr
- Active: 1 hr
Ingredients
One 18- to 20-pound seedless watermelon
2 pints blueberries
1 cantaloupe
1 honeydew
Directions
Special equipment:
Y-shaped vegetable peeler; a ruler; small fish-shaped cookie cutters- Cut off the stem end of the watermelon at an angle slightly less than 45 degrees. Reserve the piece. Set the watermelon cut-side down on a work surface.
- To make the jaws and teeth: Find the brown dot that grows at the top center of the watermelon. Measure about 1 inch down and cut a large wedge from the side to make the gaping jaws of the shark. Reserve the wedge.
- Cut a 1-inch-wide strip of paper. Use the paper as a guide to lightly draw a 1-inch line at the top and bottom of the shark's jaws with a pen or marker. Use a Y-shaped vegetable peeler and a paring knife to trim away the green and make 2 bands of white, taking care not to poke all the way through. Cut and scoop out the watermelon flesh, keeping the pieces as large as possible. Leave about an inch or so of flesh in the bottom of the mouth to act as a bowl to hold the fruit. Use a paring knife to cut triangles out of the white bands along the jaw to make teeth.
- To make the fin: Cut out a 3 1/2-inch-high fin from the reserved bottom piece of watermelon. Cut off the flesh so one side is white and the other is green. Attach the fin with 2 toothpicks about 2 to 3 inches up from the bottom of the watermelon. (Tip: Use a small meat mallet to gently hammer in the toothpicks if the watermelon is very hard.)
- To make the eyes: Cut 2 eye-shaped ovals, about 3 inches long and 2 inches high, out of paper. Toothpick them to the shark about 2 inches up from the fin and about 3 inches apart. Lightly trace around the outside of the paper with a pen or marker, then remove the paper. Use a paring knife to cut out the rind on the inside of the eyes, taking care to cut only into the white of the rind without exposing the flesh. Cut 2 strips of the rind to create menacing eyebrows. Attach a blueberry with a toothpick towards the front of each eye. Stick a second toothpick above each eye to attach the eyebrow.
- Cut any large pieces of reserved watermelon flesh into planks and use the cutters to make fish. Peel the cantaloupe and honeydew and slice down the sides of the melon until you get to the seeds to make planks. Cut into more fish. Save any melon scraps for another use.
- Set the shark on a large serving platter. Pour the remaining berries into his mouth. Add fish to the mouth and spilling onto the platter around the shark. Refrigerate until ready to serve.