Melons - the orange ones

"In general terms good melons should seem heavy for their size. Weigh a couple that look the same, and take the heavier." Jane Grigson

I think I have a slightly awkward relationship with melons, well I'm only talking about what we call rock melons here in Australia. I think this is the same as a cantaloupe, but maybe not, because the Cavaillon melon is really quite small. A Cavaillon melon, named after the logistics centre town in Provence is considered the best I think. But it is indeed smaller and also has a smoother skin than what we get here. Anyway I am talking about the orange fleshed melons for this post, whatever they are called.

My awkward relationship comes, because I always resist buying them. I really don't know why if I question myself closely about this. After all, they are delicious and refreshing and really not very difficult to prepare. But, at least here in Australia, they are large and it takes an age to get through one. Not that this should matter, because they do keep quite well in the fridge. I am writing this because we just bought a huge one, weighing a ton - well it seemed like it, for my sister who arrives here from England shortly. I realised it was really, really heavy when I tried to carry it in the basket I had retrieved from the supermarket entrance rather than a trolley. I quickly swapped the basket for a trolley.

Like the nectarines and peaches I spoke about the other day, the melon was first tasted by me in France. We just didn't have such things in England. I used to go shopping with my exchange friend Simone. She would press them at the stalk end to see if they were just a little bit soft, and then sniff it to see if it smelt. The French were very fussy about choosing their food in shops - I learnt a lot from them. I do go through the motions of doing this here, but only occasionally do I get that whiff of perfume.

Why do I resist it? Well what to do with it? I sometimes have a slice for breakfast, which is nice and refreshing, but it's also surprisingly filling I find, and not being a large breakfast eater it's sometimes a bit of a struggle to get through it. If you're having a fancy dinner party you can serve it with prosciutto - it's a classic pairing. You can put it in various salads. And you can make a cold soup or a water ice or ice cream with it. Delicate being the key word here. The main problem though is that there is such a lot of it that you feel like you're eating it forever.

It is beautiful though and it has featured in many artists' still lifes. Here are two - one by Monet and one by a sixteenth century Spanish painter. This one is very detailed - almost a photograph.