With watermelon rind, what you get is pickles. In Russia, German immigrants used to pickle whole watermelons, rind and all. At some point, many cooks started leaving out the rind and just pickling ...

Sesame seeds (also known by their Gullah Geechee name, benne) and pickled watermelon rind make wonderful garnishes. Featured in "Any Night Can Be (Wild) Game Night" by Shane Mitchell.