Summer’s Here and the Muskmelons are Juicy

Posted Sun, 06/01/2008 - 5:00am
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Hot Melon Salad

—by Kate Wagner

A false berry is one in which the fruit forms from an “inferior ovary,” and its seeds are not encased in a stone or pit. Examples of other false berries: bananas, blueberries, squash, cranberries. True berries: grapes, gooseberries, currants, tomatoes. Epigynous berry is another name for false berry.

Summer is here and the muskmelons are ripe and ready to eat! As you prepare to slice into that first fragrant and sun-warmed melon of the season, here are a few things to know about everyone’s favorite “false berry”:

  1. Cantaloupe and muskmelon are the same thing, but not in the way that you may think. Many people use these names interchangeably to refer to the fleshy, orange, netted melon that is accurately called cantaloupe. Muskmelon is a species of melon that has been cultivated into numerous varieties. Some of these varieties include smooth-skinned melons like honeydew as well as the elongated banana melon. The upshot of this is that all cantaloupes are muskmelons, but not all muskmelons are cantaloupes.
  2. Some gardeners believe that melon and squash cross-pollinate, but this is botanical folklore. Female flowers of each crop are made fruitful only by pollen from male flowers of the same species. Cross-pollination, however, can occur between varieties within the same species. Summer squash, pumpkins, gourds, and some types of winter squash belong to the same plant species and may therefore cross with one another. Muskmelon will not cross with watermelon, cucumber, pumpkin, or squash; but some varieties of muskmelon may cross-pollinate with one another. Interestingly, the effect of this will only show up in next season’s harvest if you plant the seeds of a cross-pollinated melon.
  3. Muskmelons originated in the Middle East and then traveled to Europe. Musk is the Persian word for a type of perfume, and the melon was thus named for its full-bodied aroma. The oldest apparent documentation of the existence of muskmelon was found in an Egyptian illustration of funerary offerings from around 2400 B.C. Christopher Columbus first introduced muskmelon seeds to the New World, where they were planted on Isabela Island in 1494.
  4. Growing flavorful cantaloupe is largely luck of the draw. A number of environmental factors influence how a melon grows and tastes, and not all of these are within a gardener’s control. Water is a good thing, but too much of it will dilute the sugars and dampen the flavor of the muskmelon. Muskmelon is also unusual in that it can produce flowers with male and female parts. This will not affect the flavor of the melon; but unless there are enough bees around, proper pollination in general will not happen.
  5. Melons are not just good for eating raw or cold! Don’t believe it? Then try this recipe from Alton Brown, host of The Food Network show “Good Eats”:

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[HPC member Kate Wagner is a freelance writer who lives in St. Anthony Park.]