Today Willem and I went to the supermarket and in the fruit and veg section we were on the lookout for new, weird and wonderful foods to try out. So this is what we picked - there was no label or price, but we thought it worth a try:
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| African horned melon |
The
horned melon (
Cucumis metuliferus), also called
African horned cucumber or
melon,
jelly melon,
hedged gourd,
English tomato,
melano, or
kiwano and also known as "cherie", is an annual vine in the cucumber and melon family.
The fruit of this plant is edible, but it is used as often for decoration as for food. I remember seeing these as dried gourds in South Africa - people put fanciful displays of all kinds and shapes of gourds in their homes. I never thought they could be edible!
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| Inside the kiwano. |
When ripe, it has a yellow-orange skin and a lime green jelly-like flesh with the taste similar to a cucumber and texture similar to a banana. The horned melon is native to Africa, and it is now grown in California, Chile, Australia and New Zealand as well.
Fancy that!
2 comments:
Now I'm going to go hunting and get one to try. You've inspired me :-)
Gotta admit though, the strangest thing I've tried recently was Durian icecream on Lygon Street in Melbourne. It was actually yummy :-)
It was an interesting experiment, but the taste does not quite live up to the exciting look of the fruit. A bit bland. Does look awesome adding the green pulp to a mixed fruit salad :-)
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