Nuffnang Ads

06 January 2009

Food Finds | Japanese Musk Melon

P1010018

This for all intents and purposes is not a mere melon, nor a fruit for that matter. This for all intents and purposes is a gift. Or it starts being one when a humble fruit like the melon is swaddled in a padded blanket and gently placed in a easily carriable box complete with a pillow inside to help it avoid gentle to moderate jiggles.

But the story of this humble melon begins in a greenhouse, where it's mother plant is pruned to produce only three fruit, then of the three, only our melon will be left when the farmer cuts off the two less attractice candidates. In simple terms, all the nutrients from of the plant go to nourish the remaining melon. After it has reached a optimum size and perfect round shape, and checked to make sure that it's characteristic mesh pattern is as even as possible, it is given a certificate to prove its authenticity, placed in it's vessel of transport, and delivered the next day to a supermarket near you, at a price anywhere from $40-$200 based on the quality of the melon. These are hardly ever bought to be eaten at home, which stems from traditional gift giving culture, where the very best is always saved to be given as a gift.

One of these gifts happens to find its way to our home every Christmas, from an old friend of my father's, and it is always eaten first before breakfast, with the melon being cut into six equal wedges (with a bowl underneath to catch all the liberated juices) with one going to each of us five, and the final one being split into three for my brothers and I. The luscious green flesh yields to your spoon like a hot knife to butter, and there is not one word uttered at the table as we all take in the first bite. Unlike most melons where the sweetness falters nearer the rind, this melon is sweet all the way through. Digging through the flesh to free the juices is has similarities to a young child digging for water near the seashore. Before you know it, its gone, and there is a collective sigh around the table. But with all great things, it is always just enough to savor a small piece than to rush through several servings.



9 comments:

  1. Hi manila foodistas! Since you guys and gals deal with food, I thought it would be cool if you join the Sanrio Yummies contest!

    http://blog.sanriotown.com/sanrio_yummies:hellokitty.com


    I made an entry, it's posted here:

    http://blog.sanriotown.com/art_queyquep:hellokitty.com/2009/01/05/my-first-foodcraft-is%E2%80%A6hello-kitty/#more-3

    Can you beat my creaion? bwahahahahaha

    ReplyDelete
  2. You didn't tell them the catch -- we have to make a sanriotown blog. LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  3. that's okay I guess, we can post something up here, nonetheless :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh Hannah, I seriously love how you write ♥ Only got to read this now and it's just really wow.

    And I've never even heard of these! How interesting. Is the mesh pattern really natural to the melon? I mean, did it really come to be part of nature that way or was is it like a cross-breed? o: Like that uber sweet guava that I can't recall the name of :P

    ReplyDelete
  5. its called a farang! i remember it was because the guava was brought by the portugese(??) to thailand

    ReplyDelete
  6. yes, you're right! i forgot i blogged about that. i miss those!

    idk about the portuguese thing though. my dad says they just imported the breed from somewhere else.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yummy...

    http://allthingsmanila.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow... poetic and delicious, fills the soul and stomach. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. My oh my, I've seen these around Tokyo several times, which is where I've lived for the past year, to be followed by Manila.

    Here in Japan, a cheap one of these would probably go for around 10,000 yen...heck, even a water melon would cost several thousand yen.

    Looking forward to trying some of the places you guys have recommended when I get to Manila.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...