Summer time means melons. All sorts of melons these days, not just the classic "water" so many of us ate and spat from the patio on a hot day. Personally I was very disappointed when none grew out of my belly like my older sibling said they would if I ate a seed. I swallowed several seeds hoping to be a human watermelon farm. Ideas and traditions of youth, eh?
As things change, so do the melons available and I have recently discovered a cute tasty fun one that feeds my love of dinosaurs as well as my dehydrated hunger:
Dino Melons
Also called Gaya melons and snowballs, maybe depending on their outer coloring as they resemble either big speckled dinosaur eggs or mostly off-white balls, or something in between. They can be oval (very egg-shaped) or round, with a smooth skin but speckled/stripped with green against mostly cream-white or mostly white. These are known as snowball melons in Europe, so the area must be getting the round form more than oval.
Tasting Notes:
The inner flesh is very juicy (“aqueous”) with a hint of tart as well as almost pear-like and honey notes. Definitely not cantaloupe and closer to honeydew. Interestingly, these are at peak in winter, which is unusual for melons. Related honeydews are also picked in winter. These are thus typically found in markets from winter to spring, satisfying that melon-craving well before the classic watermelon season arrives. I found the flesh very juicy, soft and stringy texture with almost the mild flavor of watermelon rather than the musky bite of cantaloupe.
The “Brix content” is between 12 & 16, which is the “total soluble solids in fruit” & closely tracks the sugar content, making the dino melon among the sweetest market melons. The yellow canary melon is also a sweet melon grown by the same corporation, and more established in markets so probably more familiar to the melon connoisseurs.
They don't have as unique and vibrant a flavor as the related variety of Lemon Drop melon (with cantaloupe-like skin and greenish white flesh), or Golden melon, with faintly yellow to white flesh and deep yellow skin (in bottom of pic below) or absolutely delish white-fleshed "Santa Clause"/ Piel de Sapo melon. But any/all of those will add a nice spin to fruit salads, green salads, smoothies, breakfast bowls. The Dino melon is small enough you could cut it in half, fill the cavity with yogurt and granola and scoop up two nice juicy breakfast servings.
Growing:
Dino melons are grown exclusively now in Brazil (by the Agricola Famosa group, who are famous among the produce peeps as growing some of the sweetest high quality melons available) but initially developed as a new melon variety in Korea from a native melon to Korea & Japan. But if they're harvested in Brazil's winter, why are they available in the northern hemisphere many 6 months later in OUR winter?? After some digging, they do ship up north in our fall but maybe we aren't noticing melons at that time in markets, or hadn't made it out to the smaller ones I look at for fresh produce.
The mild mini-melon was first released to Europe in 2015, and the US in 2019. Described as a honeydew-type melon with light green to white flesh. Dino-connoisseurs now have something fun to add to their fruit bowl though! Kids having a dinosaur theme party? Know a dino-nerd, or maybe like me- dino & plant nerd?
But you may not find these next to the watermelons for summertime munching. They may have already run out as a much earlier season produce. So don't reject watermelons from the usual summer snacking list, or check out some of the other interesting summer melons that have been on the market for a while and still add good diversity to your fruit bowls and diet. If you have gotten bored with watermelons or cantaloupes, try a sprinkle with salt on a slice. It really adds a certain something and helps you hydrate on hard hot days. Something I learned from wildland firefighters, and they DO know how to sweat.
I approve of the thin skin, yielding less wasted fruit and easy eating. I've tried making candied watermelon rind but was not a fan. Pickled could be better. My favorite but less seen name for these- Dinodews! Why is that not the official name? Dinosaur and honeydew mixed together, yes please.
References:
Comments