Horned Melon on the Table

The horned melon looks seriously scary…for a cucumber that is.

The horned melon may look like a fruit from prehistoric times, but the strange looking fruit is just another member of exotic produce that isn’t a household name. Hence, why it is so important to read the Weekly Bite so you can experiment with the oddities of the fruit world! And we are no stranger to alien fruits.

The horned melon has many names. You may have heard it called the African horned cucumber, kiwano, jelly melon or hedged gourd. We are not sure where the cucumber/melon connection comes from because the monster fruit tastes nothing like a melon. The flavor is that of a lightly sweetened cucumber with hints of banana and lime mixed in. Many people don’t mind the mild flavor, but are put off by the texture. Inside of the spiky shell is a gelatin seed-filled interior making its interior as unusual as its exterior.

The spiny African fruit is a good source of vitamin C, potassium and iron. The yellowish-green colored pigment in the horned melon pulp contains plenty of beta carotene/vitamin A. It is low in calories (about 25 for a whole melon) and contains no fat. That is a palate cleanser we can appreciate.

The inedible spiky skin makes the perfect foodie decoration. You can keep the unique-looking melon for about 2 months. When you decide to cut into it use the rind as a bowl. The horned look makes a striking serving dish.

So what can you do with a fruit with stubby spikes? Way more than you would think. You can scoop out the pulp of the fruit and eat it on its own like you would a passion fruit or you can transform it with some of these recipes that feature the horned melon:

• Bring your salad dressing to the next level with this creamy avocado horned melon dressing.
• Enjoy the refreshing taste of summer with a horned melon yogurt mousse.
• Horned melon soda anyone? Talk about an exotic drink!
• Make a horned melon sauce and use it to complement your beef or chicken.
• Spoon the seeds over ice cream or yogurt and enjoy the complexity of the horned melon flavors.

You’ll either love or hate this fruit but you have to give it a shot to find out which side you teeter on.

Have you ever tried a horned melon? What did you think of it or would you try it?

photo credit: frumpyfairy via photopin cc