Page 1 of 1

Two great new (to me) melons

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 1:59 pm
by Jenise
The best melons I've had this summer were two types of melons I've never heard of or laid eyes on before. One was called Snow Leopard. It was a small melon as melons go, strictly a two-person kind of melon (that is if you're kind enough to share after finding out how fantastic it is), oblong in shape, with a shiny smooth snow white exterior with just a few, random grass-green streaks of color on it. Inside? Snow white again. Flavor not dissimilar to honeydew but super sweet with notes of honey and orange blossom. I bought it somewhere in Seattle the week our cat had surgery and we were shopping in all kinds of unlikely places, and all I remember about where that was was that they only had two. Is it rare then? I don't know. But to my chagrin I've not been able to find it again since. If anyone else finds one, BUY.

Then last week at the Food Co-op in Mt. Vernon I bought a locally gorwn, strange-looking melon called a Petit Gris. It's cantaloupe sized but heavy, winter squash shaped, sitting squat with a flatter bottom than shoulders--looking at it, and without guidance, I'd have never thought it was anything else than a winter squash. In color it's a dull gray-green with vertical, cantaloupe-style ridges. It's so dull looking that it's a shock to cut it open and find flesh in a really hot shade of orange. The fruit on the skin is thick with a relatively small seed cavity, and it was just about the juiciest melon I've ever eaten which would account for a lot of the 4.25 lbs it weighed. In flavor, fantastic, and even though it's orange in color it's pretty much halfway between an orange melon and a white in flavor. I have to go to Seattle again this afternoon; will definitely bring another one of these babies home.

Re: Two great new (to me) melons

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 2:19 pm
by Karen/NoCA
The Melon Petit Gris de Rennes was first found growing over 400 years back in the garden of the Bishop of Rennes in France. The melon is round, has sweet orange flesh with grayish green rinds that are smooth. It weighs about 2 pounds and is known to be a very fine French variety that is very rare in the USA.

Sounds like you were very lucky to run across these two melons as they seem to be a rarity here. The white one comes from very expensive seed. Both are known for fabulous flavor. You might be able to grown the Petit Gris as it is a cool climate variety and seeds are available.

Re: Two great new (to me) melons

PostPosted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 9:32 am
by Jenise
Karen, thanks for looking those up. Interesting about the petit gris--I would say 2 pounds is a bit off. I know mine was 4.2 because at the Co-op they write the weights of the melons on them, and the one I bought was not exceptionally sized among its peers. But oh woe, there were none yesterday so I did not bring another home. However, they had the fiercest smelling, locally grown crenshaw melons, and I bought one of those. It's so perfumed that though I did not get it home until 7:00 p.m, when I woke up at 3 a.m. I could smell it from the bedroom.

Re: Two great new (to me) melons

PostPosted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 8:33 pm
by Karen/NoCA
[url]However, they had the fiercest smelling, locally grown crenshaw melons, and I bought one of those. It's so perfumed that though I did not get it home until 7:00 p.m, when I woke up at 3 a.m. I could smell it from the bedroom[/url]

Yep, Crenshaws and Ambrosias are going to smell up your car or kitchen. But, oh, the taste treat you get makes it all worth it. I finally have to put them in the fridge. Just the short time they sit in my car after leaving the Farmer's Market and my car smells like a melon patch! :D

Re: Two great new (to me) melons

PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 12:03 pm
by Jenise
I've never even heard of an Ambrosia. What have I been missing?