I have seen this particular melon from time to time when
shopping at my local grocery store. But I admit, I am sometimes wary of
different foods that I have never tried before. At Weight Watchers, they’re
hosting a “Ace Your Summer Challenge” which is a little booklets that have
weekly goals to work to. The goal for the week was to try a new fruit or
vegetable you haven’t tried this week. So, to take the challenge with gusto … I
decided I’d give a Canary Melon a
shot. That is after a quick Google search to figure out what exactly it was.
Admittedly, the price sign at my grocery store was
deceiving. There were melons of ALL shapes and sizes but it said $1.69. I
picked up one of the smallest melons there (because some of them are straight
up humongous) and popped it into my cart. At the checkout, I learned it was
$1.69 per POUND which made this melon nearly $6. Now, a little moment to “rant”… having to pay per pound for melon is wasteful
- especially since you’re throwing the rind away and scooping out seeds
galore. But that aside…
I cut up the melon to have in the fridge to pick at during
the week. The melon itself, texture wise I found was a lot softer than a
cantaloupe or honeydew. It’s most comparable to that of an overripe pear. It’s
a pale whitish/green, which made me think it would taste similar to a honeydew.
Taking a few bites … I decided it just wasn’t for me. It tastes tangy … tart
even and has a “melon” flavor but nothing comparable to your classic melon
flavors. It reminds me of the flavor you get out of fruit when you add lemon
juice to the top (to keep I from changing color in a recipe).
The texture of the melon is what really threw me off. I’m a
texture person and textures can completely disgust my palette. I’m typically a
hard fruit girl. I like my apples, pears, nectarines and plums on the hard/crispy
side. Ripe or overripe pears, nectarines and plums I can eat occasionally,
depending on how truly ripe they are. But this melon was a texture of an overly
ripe pear … you know the texture of the pears that basically ‘burst’ the moment
you bite them? That’s this melon … and it was just all too overwhelming to even
try to eat.
Even though this was a costly fail … I’m glad I at least
gave another food a shot.
I have a hard time picking a good melon anyway. They seem to range from sweet and delicious to downright yucky, and how can you tell if it's the variety, or just bad luck?
ReplyDeleteNext time you're at Trader Joe's, look for "Verry Cherry Plums". They are also a little spendy at $3.99 for a pound, but the ones I bought were sweet as candy, and still a little crisp. They have a website and a Facebook page, and seem a little gimmicky, but if they really are a cross between a cherry and a plum, then I guess they can qualify as a "new" fruit to try. That's what I'm going to be using this week, unless I make it out to the big international market about 20 minutes away from me. They have a huge produce department with all kinds of weird and interesting things!
I typically have "good luck" *knock on wood* picking melons. I learned with watermelon you want to hear it ping, like a hollow sound. Cantaloupes I typically go or a firm outside and I smell the roundish part where the stem was. Not sure that's how you should pick them but it works lol ... that is unless I let it sit on my counter too long and then it's gross. Honeydew is usually sheer luck that I get a good one!
DeleteI'm definitely going to look for that ... I've never seen or heard of it before. I bought a container of black plums (which are my fav) BUT these were sooooo soft I basically throw them out because texturally they gross me out. The Verry Cherry Plums ... are they only available certain seasons?
Here's their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/VerryCherryPlum
ReplyDeleteI get the idea that they are relatively new and have limited distribution. Like all California stone fruit their season is now. I can't even say for sure that your TJs will have them just because mine does, but it's worth checking.