If there is one product that smells good in summer, it is melon. Contrary to what one might think, the melon is not a fruit: Cucumis melo L. (that’s its scientific name) is a vegetable that belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family, like zucchini or pumpkin.
In France, melon is mainly grown around the Mediterranean. However, melon is also found on the Atlantic coast – from Quercy to Haut-Poitou. In the rest of the world, the melon is produced in Spain, Morocco and Italy.
If the melon has two main defects (its price, quite high at the beginning of summer, and its sugar content, rather high), this vegetable remains excellent for health since it is rich in vitamins and minerals, while remaining low calorie. No reason to deprive yourself of it!
How to choose the right melon?
Beyond the not always effective “grandmother’s tips”, there are some reliable clues for choosing the right melon at the (super)market:
- A very ripe melon (and therefore: very sweet) is necessarily heavy: so do not hesitate to weigh the candidates…,
- The tastiest melons are colorful and well contrasted: a pale melon is not a good sign!
- Ripe melons have a pronounced scent: be careful, the more fragrant the melon, the faster it will have to be tasted…,
- The skin of a “good” melon is slightly flexible when pressed with your finger,
- When the melon is ripe, its peduncle detaches naturally, without it being necessary to “force”: therefore look for a small “scar” at this level.
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