There’s nothing quite like a refreshing melon to cool you down in the height of the Spanish summer. The taste and scent of ripe melons is a juicy complex delight. They contain a plethora of flavour compounds that make them fragrant and floral to the point of being intoxicating. There’s a lot of honeyed sweetness, a delicate, almost alcoholic edge and a slightly musky, sulphurous note, too.
While it is not clear exactly where they originated, melons seem to be another European ingredient attributed to Christopher Columbus and the Spanish colonizers. These day’s, Spain is the world’s largest exporter of melons and a variety known as “Piel de Sapos” are one of the most widely grown. Their name translates as “Toad Skin”, which is a reference to its dark green roughly textured surface. They certainly stand out visually among our cream-colored melons, and their super sweet flavour and unique texture are on par with their notable visual appearance.
The melons I get really excited about are the small summer varieties that tend to be very fragrant even before you cut into them including cantaloupes and the delicious orange-fleshed charentais. The green-tinged, pearly-fleshed galia is also a wonderful option. Smoother-skinned varieties, such as the yellow honeydew have a sweeter aroma and also make great eating at this time of the year.
To avoid disappointment, inspect before you buy. Melons don’t ripen further once picked, so if you get an immature one, you’re stuck with it. Press the melon gently at the flower end: it should give a little. Smell it too: summer melons should have plenty of bouquet. Once you’ve got a ripe melon, scrub it under cold water, because the skin can harbour bacteria, cut in half and scoop out the seeds and fibres with a teaspoon, then slice or scoop the flesh off the skin. Once cut, melons should be refrigerated and used within two days. Enclose them in plastic bags to protect other produce in the refrigerator from the ethylene gas that the melons give off. Ripe melons are also very fragrant, and the aroma of a cut melon can easily penetrate other foods.
Melon with Serrano ham may have become a bit of a cliché since its 1970s heyday, but it is still a classically harmonious flavour pairing and it’s so simple to prepare. I also love to serve a wonderfully fresh salad of melon, feta cheese and black olives at home occasionally but one of the easiest things to do with melon is to blend it into a delicious, refreshing chilled soup. For this recipe I’m using watermelon…what more do you need on hot summers day?
WATERMELON GAZPACHO WITH A SIMPLE CHERRY TOMATO SALAD
Ingredients: serves 4
Watermelon Gazpacho
200g Watermelon (de-seeded and diced)
1 Cucumber (peeled, seeded and diced)
4 tomatoes (diced)
2 tbsp sherry Vinegar
4 tbsp extra Virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Blend all the ingredients in a liquidiser and pass through a fine sieve.
Chill in the refrigerator until required.
To serve:
Divide the tomato salad between 4 large soup bowls. Pour around the chilled watermelon gazpacho and serve immediately.
Simple cherry tomato salad
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 small red onion (finely chopped)
6 basil leaves, torn
75ml olive oil
Seasoning
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and leave to sit for 10 minutes.
Recipe by Marc Fosh – Michelin Star Chef
