Melon history

I can not walk past melons. Always stop, enjoy their fragrant aroma and remember the adage that exists in the East: “Melon makes the hair shiny, eyes young, fresh lips, wants strong possible enforceable, men wanted, and women beautiful.” And so I propose to talk about today melon.

Melon – is an annual herb. Since ancient times, melon and carefully grown very fond of her. Homeland melon is considered Central Asia and Asia Minor. It is believed that the cultivation took place in Iran, northern India and Central Asia. In Europe, melon tasted in the Middle Ages. And in Russia it was brought from Central Asia, about XV – XVI century. Melons are by size: small and large, color: orange, white, green, yellow and yellow-brown.

Today there are many varieties of melons. Here are some of them:

The torpedo – a variety that brings good transportation. The fruits are elongated, oblong yellow, covered with mesh. The flesh is juicy, white, has a rich flavor and delicate aroma.

Farmer – in my opinion, the most sweet, aromatic and delicious melon. Sometimes it is round or oval-round shape. The flesh is white.

Cantaloupe – is not intended for long-term storage. melons length reaches 25 cm. They are covered with a striped rind. The pulp can be colored in orange-pink color.

Galia – a green pulp. Fragrant melon with its own flavors, which resembles southern cantaloupe.

Honey – the fruit is almost round, in length from 15 to 22 cm is believed that this is one of the sweetest varieties.. The flesh is light yellow or nearly white, turning to the pale green color near the rind. A spider veins on the skin almost never happens.

Melon champion the content of vitamin C. And it is almost 20 times more iron than in milk. Also, in the melon contains vitamins B1, B2, PP, A, calcium, potassium, sodium.

From the melon can be cooked compotes, jams, jam, jelly, marmalade, salads, etc. And now proceed directly to the preparation of meals melon. And the first meal we …

Salad with melon (first)

Consider:

3 glass beads from the pulp of a melon
3 glass beads from the pulp of the watermelon
2 tablespoons lime juice
5 tbsp blackberry
sugar to taste
mint leaves for decoration
Clear melon and watermelon seeds from. Then use a spoon for ice cut from the pulp balls. Add the washed blackberries, sugar and lime juice. Mix everything carefully and put in the fridge for an hour. Before serving, decorate the salad with mint leaves. Bon Appetit!
But we can go further to combine the melon with shrimp. And then will we have a salad with an amazing taste.

Salad with melon (second)

Consider:

1.5 kg melon
350 g of cooked shrimp (or crab meat)
1 tablespoon lime juice
polpuchka basil
freshly ground black pepper, salt to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
Shrimp put in a salad bowl. And if you use crab meat, then drained and coarsely chop them. Melon cut in half, remove seeds and cut into slices. Each slice of melon to make cuts, then cut the slices with peel. Send our melon slices in a salad bowl. To break (or cut) basil leaves. Add to salad basil, lime juice and olive oil. Season with pepper and salt. Mix everything very carefully. Our salad ready to eat. Enjoy all the meal!
The next dish on the menu – a refreshing soup.

Melon soup (4 servings)

Consider:

2 small melon
175 ml water
75g sugar
lime
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
basil leaves for decoration

Cut the melon in half and clean them from seeds. With round spoons for ice cream to cut 24 balls and set aside for decoration. The remaining pulp to shift into a blender (or food processor). Then pan combine sugar, water and lime peel. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Then boil for a further 2 minutes, remove from heat and let cool slightly. Half of our syrup to pour into the blender to the melon, making a homogeneous puree, adding the remaining syrup and lime juice to taste. The a la carte dish put chopped fresh basil, then pour them into the soup. Serve the soup garnished dynnymi balls and basil leaves. Bon Appetit!
Farther…

melon gazpacho

Consider:

melon
2 pcs. celery stalks
2 pcs. yellow pepper
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 sprigs of mint
2 tablespoons dry white wine
½ cup cream 22%
salt to taste
Remove the peppers from the core. Cut the peppers, celery, melon into small cubes. 1 cup of melon cubes to postpone for a while. The remaining grind in a blender along with the celery and peppers to puree the state. Then add the wine sauce, lemon juice, cream and salt. Beat up and cool down. Then pour into glasses, top with melon cubes and garnish with mint leaves. Enjoy tasting!
And now I propose to fry the melon. Yes, you read that right! Let’s make a simple and very original snack.

Melon in batter

Consider:

½ melon
6 tablespoons flour
½ tsp black pepper coarse
½ tsp salt
1 PC. shallots
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup water
egg
1 cup vegetable oil
Clear melon from the rind and seeds. Then cut it into cubes. Shallots wash and finely chop. Whisk in a bowl 4 tablespoons of flour, egg, corn starch, shallots, water, pepper and salt. In a saucepan, heat the vegetable oil. Lower the melon in the batter, then fry in oil for 2 minutes. Our melon tempura ready! Enjoy all the meal!

Ideas melon dishes you will find here

A few rules when choosing a melon:

should not buy a melon, rind if there is damage, spots and dents;
when tapped on the ripe melon sound is dull;
Choose a melon with a sweet odor.

And what interesting dishes with melon, you know? Tell us …