Call me puerile, but Istruggle to say the word "melons" without smirking. It brings out my inner Sid James. That's ironic, really, because though they're a gift to theadolescent humourist, and are certainly sexy, put them in a kitchen and melons reveal themselves as among the most sultry, sophisticated fruits you can get your hands on.
The taste and scent of ripe melons is a complex delight. They contain a plethora of flavour compounds that make them fragrant and floral to thepoint of intoxicating. There's a lot ofhoneyed sweetness, a delicate, almost alcoholic edge anda slightly musky, sulphurous note, too. Allthis, delivered in that silky, slippery flesh, makes melons glorious on their own, and fabulous partners to other fruits: try them with pineapple, mango or orange, say. And you'd be missing a trick if you didn't also use them to bring out the sensuous best in savoury foods such as salty ham ornutty cheese.
The melons I get really excited about are the small summer varieties that tend to be very fragrant even before being cut, and that usually feature a rough, "netted" rind. For full flavour and complex aromatics, Ilike cantaloupes, of which the orange-fleshed charentais is my favourite. The green-tinged, pearly-fleshed galia is a delicious relative. Smoother-skinned varieties, such as the yellow honeydew and the green piel de sapo, can also be good, but lack that really headyaroma, and are generally less in-your-face luscious.
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. Ideally, there should be no remnant of stalk; if fully ripened on the vine, they come away cleanly, without having to be cut. If a melon doesn't fulfil these criteria, it is not right. And study the netting on the skin of cantaloupes: generally, the more pronounced the netting, the riper the melon.
Once you've got a ripe melon, scrub it under cold water, because the skin can harbour bacteria, cut inhalf and scoop out the seeds and fibres with a teaspoon, then slice orscoop the flesh off the skin.
The flesh of ripe melons makes beautiful sorbets and granitas, particularly when seasoned with lemon or lime juice; their sweetness means you shouldn't need much sugar. Simple fruit assemblies suitthem, too. Try thin slivers of charentais trickled with crushed, lightly sugared raspberries, or cubes of galia with pineapple and aginger-spiked orange dressing.
And then there are those sexy savoury combinations. Melon with ham may have become a bit of a cliche since its 1970s heyday, but you will not be disappointed if you marinate slim peeled slices of the fruit with rosemary, alittle red chilli, lemon juice and olive oil, and serve it with really good air-dried ham, with a peppery green salad or on top of a garlicky bruschetta.
Ripe summer melons should be stored in a very cool larder or the salad drawer of your fridge, and they won't keep for more than seven to 10 days. So grab a couple of these gorgeous globes and get going.
Melon, cucumber and courgette salad with olives and red onion
Here, I've partnered melons with their cucurbit relatives, cucumbers and courgettes. All that delicate, juicy flesh is pointed up beautifully by the assertive flavours of olives and onion. Serves four as a side dish.
½ large cucumber (about 200g)
1 medium courgette (about 200g)
¼ small charentais or galia melon (about 200g)
50g pitted black olives, such as kalamata
½ medium red onion, peeled and finely chopped
Juice of ½ small lemon
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground blackpepper
Quarter the cucumber lengthways, scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon and slice into thin quarter-moons about 2mm thick. Put the slices inalarge bowl. Top and tail the courgette, quarter it lengthways and cut into pieces the same thickness as the cucumber. Add to the bowl.
Scoop the seeds out of the melon. Carefully slice the melon off its skin,then cut it first lengthways into two to three slender wedges, then crosswise, as with the cucumber and courgette, and add to the bowl.
Roughly chop the olives and addto the salad with the onion. Squeezeover the lemon juice, trickle over the oil, give it a good seasoning and stir together gently. Taste, add more salt, pepper or lemon juice ifneeded, and serve straight away.
Melon smoothie with orange, ginger and honey
Puréed ripe melon has a lovely, velvety, almost creamy texture. Thisrefreshing smoothie tastes bestwhen really cold, so chill the melon first. If your blender isn't up to processing ice cubes, just drop acouple into each glass before you serve the smoothie. Serves two.
1 small to medium ripe charentais orgalia melon, chilled (about 1kg)
150ml freshly squeezed orange juice
1 thumb-sized chunk ginger, peeled
3-4 ice cubes
1-2 tsp honey
Scoop out the melon seeds, then scoop the flesh off the skin in chunks,dropping them into a blender as you go. Add the orange juice.
Finely grate the ginger into a sieve over a small bowl. Press the grated ginger with the back of a spoon, to squeeze out its juice, measure out ateaspoon and add to the blender. Add the ice and whizz the lot until smooth. Add a little honey to taste, just to enhance the fruity flavours, and a touch more ginger juice, if you fancy more kick. Drink immediately.
Melon granita
This glorious, fragrant iced pud couldn't be prettier, or easier. Servesfour to six.
2 very ripe fragrant melons such as charentais or galia (1.5-1.75kg in all)
1 lemon
Icing sugar
A little rose water or orange flower water (optional)
Double cream, to serve (optional)
Halve the melons, scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon, then scoop the flesh out of the skin into a food processor. Add the juice of half thelemon. Make sure no melon orlemon seeds get into the mix. Process to a smooth, thin purée andadd icing sugar to taste: you'll probably need about two tablespoons (remember, the mix will seem a little less sweet once it's frozen). Add more lemon juice if you feel the melon flavour needs a touch more definition. For a lovely scented result, add a little rosewater or orange flower water: stir in just a few drops at a time, until you get the depth of flavour you're happy with.
Pour into a shallow freezer container and freeze until solid: giveit at least 12 hours. Take it out of the freezer about 20 minutes before serving, and test the consistency. You should be able to scratch it into crystals with a fork straight away, inwhich case put it back in the freezer until you're ready to serve; if, however, it's very hard, leave it in the fridge a little longer, tosoften slightly.
Either way, when you're ready toserve, use a fork to scratch the frozen purée into a heap of icy crystals: the finished granita shouldhave a texture rather like acoarse sorbet. Pile this into servingglasses, top each with agenerous snowycap of cream, ifyou fancy (and I often do), and serve straight away.
Melon in coconut milk
This simple, cooling dessert is based on a south Indian recipe, rasayana. It's very easy to put together, and amazingly delicious, fragrant and refreshing. Serves four.
200g can coconut milk
2 tsp caster sugar
1 lime
1 very ripe, fragrant melon such asacharentais or galia (around 800g), chilled
Tip the coconut milk into a pan, addthe sugar and heat gently, stirring all the time, until the sugar has dissolved and the coconut milk is smooth. You don't want it to cook,just to warm through until amalgamated. Take off the heat, leave to cool, then chill.
Once nicely chilled, if the coconut milk has separated, whisk it back together, then finely grate in the zest of half the lime and add lime juice to taste.
Cut the melon into wedges, remove the seeds, then slice the flesh off the skin and cut into bite-sized pieces. Put into chilled dishes and spoon over the coconut milk. Top with more lime zest and serve.
