Cucamelon ✦

Mélothrie

What it is

It was grown in Mesoamerica long before contact, and is still called sandiita, little watermelon, for the striped skin rather than for anything melon-like in the taste. Botanists only described it in 1866, and seed catalogues outside Mexico ignored it until the last twenty years or so.

In the kitchen

Eat them whole, raw and unpeeled — the cucumber note lives in the skin and the flesh alone is bland. For a quick pickle, cover with warm brine and eat them the same day; after a few hours they soften and lose the snap that is the point.

Goes with

Lime Chili pepper Cilantro / Coriander Mint Cucumber Olive oil

In season alongside

Buckler-leaf sorrel Kabosu Mountain sorrel Begonia petals Cilantro / Coriander Finger lime

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