When choosing a melon, do you feel like you are playing the lottery? Everyone has their little trick, but only a few are giving results according to an expert.
Every year, it’s the same show at the supermarket or on the market stalls. Some spend long minutes feeling each melon, gauging its weight, its appearance or its famous sweet smell… A real spectacle that does not, however, prevent making mistakes and regularly falling on a hard, too firm melon. or just not sweet enough.
Are these little tricks that we pass on to each other on the markets or from generation to generation false? Not that much… But only some are true and should be used with caution, as explained by Antoine Peugeot, a true specialist, since he is the quality manager at the Melon de Cavaillon syndicate. Just that.
Is smelling all the melons useless or just ridiculous?
- First big question: is weighing your melon really useful? The answer is yes. “Out of two melons, with equal volumes, the heaviest will surely be the ripest and the best to taste”, explains the specialist at the microphone of TF1. This is the first signal of a juicy, sweet melon.
- Second less known element: the color of the melon. It should not be too green, a sign of insufficient ripeness, but display a color turning yellow. But beware of the opposite extreme! If the melon is too yellow, move on, it is probably already too ripe. It’s all about balance!
- And smell all the melons in the stall ? Seeing all those customers wearing melons up to their noses might seem ridiculous. In reality, it’s not quite. But in front of ten or more melons, it is less revealing, quite simply because it is difficult to isolate a characteristic odor in a sea of melons nearby and at sometimes very different degrees of maturity. So be careful.
- On the other hand, the small peduncle at the top of the melon can be of great help. This small tail is to be observed especially if it is surrounded by small cracks, a characteristic sign of a melon that has reached maturity. Not all melons have this feature, but some can offer you this recognizable sign very easily.
You understood, there is not ONE miracle trick to find the right melon among a thousand, but these four signs are excellent clues to combine to find the perfect fruit. Good hunt !