Two new melons

Recently we wrote about Sumo’s (the fruit) guess what, we have two new ones to tell you about that.

Pepino Melons

Kiwano Melons

Steve and I love trying new foods and are always willing to try something once no matter how pokey the skin is or how interesting the color may be. This is the case with the melon’s above. We went to our local grocery store to get some more of our favorite fruit, Sumo, to find out they were gone…*tear*. So instead we tried a Pepino Melon and Kiwano/Horned Melon.

They were so good! Let’s talk about the Pepino Melon first.

Pepino Melon, also called tree melon or melon pear are sporadicaly avilable February through May. The pepino melon is actually a berry within the nightshade family, which includes tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants. It is the fruit from a small evergreen shrub. They are native to Peru and today grow in subtropical climates in other regions of the world; especially in California and New Zealand.

The melon size can be as small as a plum and as large as a papaya. It will be a light-yellow to light green color with streaks of purple. When ripe the flesh is golden yellow with narrow seed cavity.

The word “pepino” is Spanish for cucumbers, which helps describes the taste. It had a nice crisp texture, a slightly sweet bitter flavor with hints of pear and banana. The whole melon is edbible; skin, flesh, pulp and seeds… so dig in!

Now for the Kiwano Melon. Don’t worry the spines are not sharp.

Kiwano Melon, also called African horned cucmber, jelly melon or English tomato; to name a few. In the southeastern part of the United States it is nicknamed the blowfish fruit. It is part of the cucumer and melon family and grows on a annual vine. The melon is native to Africa, now grown in Claifornia, Chilie, Australia and New Zealand.

The Kiwano Melon is edible, but mostly used for food decoration. When reading more about the melon we learned that the skin is edible, but we only choose and would reccommend eating the flesh and seeds. The flesh had a lightly sweet flavor with a hint of tartness. At first we thought eating the jelly-like flesh would not be appealing, but we were wrong, it was really good and the texture didn’t bother us. If a texture thing is an issue for you, you might not like this melon. For a ripe melon, choose one that is yellow-orange skin with a lime green jelly-like flesh.

Let us know if you try the new melons and what you think!

The Sumo (Not The Wrestler)

My wife has recently introduced me to this wonderful citrus fruit called the Sumo.  When you first look at it you are not quite sure what it is, but it is intriguing.  You say to yourself, “I wonder what this tastes like?”  To keep you wondering I will first start with a little bit of history of the Sumo.

It was originally developed in the 70’s, in Japan, and was called the dekopon, now known as sumo.  It was developed by crossing the satsuma mandarin and a California orange, resulting in a sweeter citrus fruit.  Or as my wife describes it, it’s the shape of a orange, peels like a clementine, and has the sweet citrus flavor of both fruits.

The shape resembles a sumo wrestler with the point on top resembling the iconic hair and leading to the round shape that resembles their bodies.  It is now commrecially grown in California, which began in 1991, so cost could be cut on shipping.

The sumo trees have many blooms throughout the year, however, the later the bloom the sweeter the fruit. Sumos are only in season for a short time, February through May.  The best time to buy them is the end of April.

So run out to the store and buy yourself some before they are out for the season!

Sumo