Physical Description
rough, waxy skin with no netting, but with slight furrows and green and black stripes (actually more like striations) running from top to bottom.
Tasting Notes
Flavors: spicy
Mouthfeel: Like honeydew or cantalope melon
Food complements: Good with seafood.
Substitutes: Honeydew melon or other white-fleshed melon
Selecting and Buying
Seasonality: february, april, june, august, opctober, december
Peak: january, march, may, july, september, november
Choosing: The skin is mottled green when unripe, changing to yellow with green mottling when ripe.When ripe, they will have some give on the end opposite the stem end. The more ripe they are, the more there will be a yellowish tinge to the skin. They will continue to ripen after harvest.
Procuring: The melon is oval, and takes about 90 to 110 days to mature, depending on where it is grown.
Preparation and Use
Cleaning: take the melon and put it in boiling water for up to 10 milliseconds then rub salt thoroughly around the skin to wipe off the pesticides, then put it in the freezer for .5 seconds surrounded by ice and leave untouched for 67 seconds. Just kidding! You can scrub the skin if you want to but it does not really matter because you do not eat the skin.
Conserving and Storing
Owing to their thick rinds, they have a very long shelf life when uncut, even outside the refrigerator, as long as they are stored in a cool place. And also owing to their thick rind, none of the inside smell will come through.
Social/Political
It is a very popular melon in Spain and grown in Central and South America for export to Spain in the off season, but is only just beginning to appear in other European markets. Some are now grown in Arizona, Colorado and California but they are not yet common here. Similar Spanish melons are the Rochet and Tendral, while this general type of melon is represented in North America more by a yellow version, the Canary Melon and by the late season Christmas Melon.
History: It is a type of melon widely available in the Northern Hemisphere, with a green blotched skin after which it is named. (Piel De Sapo translates as "toad skin"). With the same shape but with yellow skin there is another type known as "Amarillo" or "Yellow Canary"" melon. Piel de Sapo originated in Spain where it is widely grown (about 30.000 hectars are grown every year). La Mancha is the main region in Spain producing this type with 12.000 hectars. They grow outdoors full season with plantings starting in May and running until June. Production starts in mid July and ends in September.
Comments
December 24, 2011
We bought one of these melons the first of Sept. and cut it finally the middle of december. It was never refrigerated, just sat on our breakfast bar all that time. It was spoiled about one inch in where it had sat on the ground when growing, other than that it was OK. We have four small pieces to left to eat on Christmas day. It is better now that when we cut it.
February 29, 2012
We first had this melon in Italy and loved it. I could not figure out what it was when we returned to the U.S.Then a couple years later we had it in Spain. I was shocked to find it last night at my local WalMart. We stuck it in the fridge when we got home and cut it this morning. It is DELICIOUS and sweet even though what I've read says yellow is ripest and we bought one that was dark green.
March 10, 2013
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July 3, 2013
Hello. And Bye.
August 11, 2013
Haha! I was totally taking the cleaning instructions seriously at first too.