Man, the cantaloupes are good this year! My uncle, a farmer, taught me how to choose a good 'lope back when I worked at his roadside stand as a girl.
The sweetest cantaloupes have a well-developed, raised webbing on their rind - the more defined and rough, the better. I don't know why this is so, but this tip has never failed me. The cantaloupe is ripe when the stem end does not show any green and the other end smells good and sweetly cantaloupe-y.
Now, about choosing watermelons, I know nothing. And I've heard that there is no good way to choose a watermelon. Is this true?
5 comments:
Thank you for the tip. Now I might brave a loupe-y purchase more often. My kids sure would like that!
This is perfect timing, because just yesterday I was trying to judiciously choose a 'lope and knew about the sweet-lopey smell but not the physical aspect. Thank you!
And as far as watermelon go, I usually thump them. If they sound hollow, then I go with it. (This could be an old wives' tale, but I usually do pretty well with this unscientific method.) We prefer the round, deep green ones that we refer to as 'sugar babies.'
Good tips to know. I am a weird one - I do not like melons of any kind - but my family does, and it helps to have your cantaloupe-choosing ideas!
The girls-trip sounds so fun!
We went to the produce market a few weeks ago and the air was heavy with the scent of ripe cantaloupes. My oldest begged me to buy one, we're the only two in the house that like them, and it was delicious.
This is the way I choose cantaloupes (in addition to the above mentioned tips). Shake the melon and listen/feel for the seeds to move and slosh inside (Hold on tight!). It works for me. As for the watermelon, I have had a little success with looking to see if the spot on the downside of the melon is yellow (ripe) or white (unripe).
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