Because I’ve been asked a number of times in the past few weeks, and recently showed a friend who was having dinner with us, I thought I’d share how I cut a cantaloupe to serve to the kids. Two of the kids have a ‘skin issue’…meaning that they don’t like the skin on any fruit. This leaves me cutting cantaloupes like this, rather than into wedges. Watch and see…
When it comes to choosing a cantaloupe, you’re gonna have to get up close and personal with them at the grocery store. I choose them based on how sweet they smell. Grab a melon and smell the ‘stem end’ of the melon. Each melon has a ‘nub’ on one end (sometimes not very visible), and a ‘belly button’ on the other end, where it was cut off from the vine. You can usually see a little piece from the stem.
Hold the belly button end up to your nose and inhale deeply. If it smells, sweet then you’ve got yourself a ripe melon. If it doesn’t smell at all, you could still purchase it and wait for it to ripen before you cut into it!
I always smelled that end too, but when the melons aren’t in season that never works…. I was told a few months back, by one of the store produce managers, that if you use that same end and cut into the rind with your thumb nail, you can smell if it’s ripe or not. So far that has worked pretty well for us