Cooking

How to choose the perfect melon?

Do you love melons? Not always sure which melon you should pick from the produce aisle? Let us guide you on a journey to discover wonderful melons, and the indicators to help you pick the best one! There's nothing more delicious than a sweet and juicy melon, shared around the table with friends and family. To give you an edge in the supermaket when looking for the perfect melon, we've created a cheat-sheet with some information on a whole range of melons, and their different indicators for freshness and ripeness. 

Charentais melon

A Charentais melon can be different depending on your location or season. In summer Charentais melons can be recognised by their intense aroma and taste. These 'classic' types are often available through spring and summer due to lower storability than other melons. In winter fruits are normally firmer and less aromatic, but often sweeter.

In summer a ripe Charentais melon should smell sweet and aromatic, not be too firm but have a bit of give when gently pressed.

Galia melon

Galia refers to a type of melon that has a netted pale yellow or golden skin with green flesh characterised by it's aroma and sweet taste.

Look for galia melons with a sweet aroma to the skin; this indicates ripeness. The fruit should also be firm all over when gently pressed.

Piel de sapo melon

Its white flesh is of exceptional quality and taste, similar to a honeydew, yet often sweeter. Restaurants and chefs have discovered the taste for themselves with high demand, creating dishes for their customers to enjoy. 

Piel de Sapo is the traditional melon of the Spanish kitchen. It is easy to pick a good one, just look for the 'sugar cracks' which are the strong cracking along the skin. Nowadays Piel de Sapo melons are available most of the year due to their excellent storage capabilities. 

Watermelon

Watermelon not only looks great, but it also has excellent taste. They’re sweet, crisp, refreshing and taste best when chilled.

A ripe watermelon sounds a little hollow when you knock on the skin.

Cantaloupe or rock melon

Like Charentais, cantaloupe melons have orange flesh although they are normally fully netted and can differ during the year or location. Some varieties have a slightly golden skin colour and often have an aromatic fragrance. Many of the newer varieties tend to be firmer and sweeter but with little or no aroma. 

A ripe cantaloupe melon should have a bit of give when gently pressed. 

Remember for most melons there will be a discoloured patch on one side of the fruit, this is completely normal as it is where the fruit has rested on the ground.

Now that you have selected the freshest melons from the store, we have over 25 terrific melon recipes to help you create some wonderful salads, salsas and appetisers