Green Rockmelon or Cantaloupe

[johbot]

Part of me was disappointed this year when the cucumber seedlings I bought turned out to be rockmelons. I was so looking forward to the cucumbers!

The rockmelons have now ripened and have been harvested. They were worth the wait. When I pulled the vines out yesterday there were four small melons that would never get to ripen. But (like other loungers who frequent the cooking forum) I never like to through things away (although my chooks wouldn't mind).

In Asian cuisines, there is call for green mangoes and green papayas. We can use green tomatoes. So my question is can I use green rockmelon without getting the 'pain in my pinny' that my mother-in-law warns me I'll get if I eat unripe fruit?

I cut open one of the small ones and had a taste. I tasted like a cross between unripe melon and cucumber - funnily enough.

Anyone with any experience or ideas?

[HansV]

Unless you eat very large quantities, I think there's little chance of stomach ache.

You could use them more or less like green mangoes, but their taste is more neutral.

You could put chunks of green cantaloupe with sweeter fruits in a blender to make a smoothie.

[johbot]

Thanks Hans,

That is what I was thinking, but thought I would check first.

Johanna

[Samantha]

You might try grilling them to add depth/sweetness.

[viking33]

Part of me was disappointed this year when the cucumber seedlings I bought turned out to be rockmelons.

Anyone with any experience or ideas?

You have contributed to my "learn something new each day" storehouse!
Rockmelon is also called cantaloupe, at least in my part of the U.S.
Don't know if I would care for unripe cantaloupe but doubt it would hurt you?

[ChrisGreaves]

Don't know if I would care for unripe cantaloupe but doubt it would hurt you?

Wasn't this a punchline in the first version of "Goodbye Mr. Chips", where Chips is encouraged to tell jokes to the students in his Latin class and has the male say he can't elope and the female says "Oh yes, you cannulia"?

[ChrisGreaves]

Part of me was disappointed ...

Which part?

It tasted like a cross between unripe melon and cucumber ...

Well, all members of the domesticated concurbit family(?) are edible, right? So the only question about toxicity is whether the toxins, if any, are diluted enough (I see Hans's smoothie suggestion) or neutralized (by cooking).
I like to think that in most cases a fruit's only defense is to be toxic until it is ripe enough to eat, at which time it is "happy" to be eaten and the seeds distributed. Much the same is true of vegetables which is why, in general, we boil cabbage, broccoli, carrots etc.

[johbot]

Which part?

I can't tell you that !!!

But for anyone else, it was the part of me that was looking forward to having cucumbers for the summer. But the part of me that likes rockmelon was happy

[johbot]

Thought I'd post a follow up.

I used a Thai recipe for Green Papaya Salad and substituted the shredded unripe rockmelon. It was delicious!

Unfortunately my intestinal tract has not reacted in the same positive way today and let's just say that I have not wandered far from 'conveniences' today. That's a shame, because the taste was really good.

So chalk that one up to experience.

[Doc Watson]

Thought I'd post a follow up.

I used a Thai recipe for Green Papaya Salad and substituted the shredded unripe rockmelon. It was delicious!

Unfortunately my intestinal tract has not reacted in the same positive way today and let's just say that I have not wandered far from 'conveniences' today. That's a shame, because the taste was really good.

So chalk that one up to experience.

And put the recipe in your holistic medicine chest as a remedy for constipation.

[GeoffW]

Rockmelon is also called cantaloupe, at least in my part of the U.S.

In Victoria, at least when I was younger, it was always called cantaloupe.

In NSW, not many people would know what a cantaloupe.

[Skitterbug]

Rockmelon is also called cantaloupe, at least in my part of the U.S.

In Victoria, at least when I was younger, it was always called cantaloupe.
In NSW, not many people would know what a cantaloupe.

If I am "on the same page" regarding this topic, we call it muskmelon! We hunt for the ones grown in Indiana since they seem to be very sweet and juicy. We've tried growing them and have had some success but for the effort expended, we think we're better off buying the few that we eat.