Mystical magical melons

High water content makes watermelon so very refreshing

Melons, like zucchini belong to the pumpkin family. The many varieties of this fruit originally came from southern Asia and Equatorial Africa. Today, these varieties are grown all over central and southern Italy as well as on the islands.
Piles of tempting melons can be found at roadside stands as a refreshing snack on the way to the beach. Children love biting into a slice of cool, juicy watermelon after a few hours of playing in the sand or in the water.
As a small child I remember a neighbour who had a passion for growing a very special melon. More sweet and delicious than any other, he claimed the seeds came from his hometown of Cosenza in Calabria and these special melons were grown in his family for generations.
He was so protective of his prized heritage that he threatened his neighbours who might try to steel a melon for the seeds, that they would grow warts, and their soil will turn to sand - or both. I never got to taste these guarded delicacies but I do remember his favourite way of eating them was to cut it in half, remove the seeds, fill the hollow with red wine and dig in with a large spoon!
You too can enjoy the sweetest and juiciest of all melons right now because it's melon season! This means you forgo buying your melons at the grocery store (unless they're from a local farm) and go directly to the market for the juiciest melons with the greatest intensity of flavour.
If asked, practically no one hesitates to reveal his or her family wisdom about how to select the sweetest melon from among surrounding look-a-likes. My nonna always told us that a ripe, sweet melon will always sound hollow when tapped lightly. My zio had more success picking out a melon that sounded dull and muffled, but never hollow! One thing is for sure, people everywhere can be seen, melons in hand, thumping, sniffing, shaking, slapping and listening. These tricks and hints are part of people's heritage, handed down from generation to generation.
It is difficult to be definitive about melons because there are so many of them. Not only are there various sizes and varieties of watermelons to choose from but also different types of honeydew melons as well.
The flesh of honeydew melons can range from whitish, pale yellow, orange or light green in colour and their skins are yellow or green, sometimes criss-crossed with white or gray markings. The common watermelon, which is usually bigger in size, has a green or greenish-white skin and bright red flesh with numerous seeds. Although today you can get seedless watermelon, I usually find this new evolution of convenient food at the expense of sweetness and flavour.
Thanks to its high water content of up to 95%, watermelon is wonderfully refreshing on a hot summer day eaten in slices with your fingers. Melon is perfect in its classical combination with Parma ham and both make a wonderful Macedonia di frutta (fruit salad).
When buying a fresh melon, blossom ends should yield to gentle pressure and should be aromatic. If you gently tap the fruit with your knuckles, it should sound rounded and full. Get to know the colour of your favourite melons and if the colour isn't right - reject it. Don't buy melons that have soft spots, cracks or mold and a smooth, undamaged skin will indicate to you that the fruit is not bruised.
Even mature melons from the market may need a few days to ripen fully, just leave it on your kitchen counter for a few days until it reaches full flavor. Except for watermelons, unripe whole melons can be kept in a paper bag at room temperature for 2 to 3 days to ripen. A fully ripe melon will be heavy for its size so you should always avoid purchasing any lightweight melons. Ripe melons can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 5 days - if they last that long!
Most melons are a good source of vitamin C and those with deep orange or red flesh are rich in vitamin A. For those watching your waistline, half a cantaloupe has 80 calories, 50 calories in a wedge of honeydew and 110 calories per 1-inch slice of watermelon.
Melons are great all by themselves, though some people like to perk up their flavor by sprinkling lemon juice, salt, mint or liqueur on them. When including fresh melon in a recipe you can safely estimate one pound of melon will yield one cup of cubed fruit.
There are so many different varieties of melons on the market that come from so many places around the world, both close and far, that all I can do is offer you some wise Italian words that have been passed down in my family for generations. That is, when faced with a variety of melons, or food of any sort, adopt the motto of "eating is believing", and that is probably the best thing to do with those ripe, sweet melons in the market right now.

Publication Date: 2002-09-22
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=1766