Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Melon Talk: Santa Claus Melon

Introduced this series with the canary melon, but today we talk about the Santa Claus Melon. This melon, also called a Piel de Sapo ("Toad Skin") is a unique melon worth trying.

Before cutting in we let the melon guessing begin - and it seemed pretty clear that with the name Santa Claus we could only expect it insides the be bright Christmas red.

But look at the final image in this post below, and you will see whether that pans out...

Red...not even close, kind of a fleshy translucent cream color. Certainly not white.

You will find the Santa Claus melon has the taste of a cantaloupe, but the juicy translucent sweet flesh of a watermelon.

The seeds are centrally located like a cantaloupe as well - easy to scoop out giving you a decent amount of sweet fleshy fruit to enjoy.

But why it's called Santa Claus melon, I have no idea. But feel free to come up with an explanation (real or imaginary) if you wish.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

two reasons, 1, the peak harvest season for the melon in native South is December. 2, the melon is a great keeper, can store in refrigeration for 6 months, or from summer to Christmas. *returning to lurk mode*