Watermelon

Locally grown watermelon, sold by weight. In a Dubai summer this is less a fruit than a utility — it is most of a litre of water per kilo and it is the thing everyone actually wants at three in the afternoon.

Cubed and cold is the whole recipe. Beyond that: blitzed with mint and lime into a drink, cubed with feta and black pepper for a salad that sounds wrong and is not, or the rind pickled if you are inclined.

Two things to look at. There should be a creamy yellow patch where it sat on the ground — a white or absent patch means it was picked early. And it should sound hollow and deep when you knock it, not dull and dense.

Whole watermelon keeps a week or more somewhere cool, and does not need the fridge until you want it cold.

Once cut, wrap the face and refrigerate. Cut watermelon absorbs other smells fast, so keep it covered and use it within three days.