For an experiment this summer, we are going to try new or unfamiliar foods starting with each letter of the alphabet. Our kids are generally very good eaters, much more open to different foods than either David or I was growing up...and probably still are. We will not necessarily go in order, but rather be more open to trying things we wouldn't normally pick up.
Today, we started with letter K! K is for Kiwano Melon. It is also known as an African Horned Melon, even though most of the ones we see in the U.S. are grown in New Zealand or California. We have seen the melons at our local Kroger and keep saying we will try them someday, so it seemed like a good place to start our experiment. First we did a little research since we didn't know anything about the fruit.
We learned that the Kiwano Melon is mostly orange on the outside when it is ripe, but the insides are bright green! Like most melons, you don't generally eat the outside of the melon.
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| We had looked up the information about the melon, but the kids were still surprised at how bright green the inside was. My photo doesn't fully show the contrast between the orange outside and the green inside. |
The inside is filled with seeds that are surrounded by the little pockets of fruit. The seeds are edible, and don't have much taste on their own.
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| You can see the little fruit sacs around each seed. |
I used this Wiki page to help learn about how to
choose a ripe fruit and how to eat it!
This WebMD site also had a little different information,
including nutrition facts:
"A 1-cup serving of kiwano melon has about 4 grams of protein (the same as 1 tablespoon of peanut butter), 287 milligrams of potassium (about half the amount in a banana), and vitamins A and C -- but it only has about 103 calories."
It is said that the melon tastes like a cross
between cucumber, banana, and lime.
So the verdict:
We tried various methods of getting the fruit out of the shell. Squeezing worked somewhat. We tried squeezing the fruit into bowls. Isaac and Nathanael also tried squeezing it directly into their mouths. But I think we found using a spoon to scoop out the contents was the most efficient. A grapefruit spoon would be great, but we were able to do it with a plastic spoon. We didn't really try, but there did not seem to be a good way to separate the seeds from the fruit, other than just by using your mouth.
What about the taste?
I think the mix of fruits used to describe the taste is pretty accurate if you assume hints of those flavors rather than full-flavor. The fruit is definitely not as sweet as I was expecting. I don't particularly care for cucumber, but that was not off-putting once I tasted the melon. It is a pretty refreshing fruit.
Elizabeth was not sure about the taste from the beginning. The part she liked the best was the juice. She preferred the fruit (the part surrounding the seeds) without seeds, but found it took too much effort to remove the seeds.
Josiah first said he really liked it. Then he backed down to not being so sure. He and Elizabeth agreed they didn't dislike it, but it's probably not something they would ask for again and again like strawberries or raspberries. Although, Josiah acknowledged that it was probably because it was something he wasn't used to since it was his first time trying it.
Isaac, Nathanael, and Hannah quickly ate the servings they were given. The seeds didn't seem to bother them at all. Nathanael and Hannah immediately wanted more! :-)
Good thing the youngest ones really like it. We have two more melons to eat!
