Edible Tulip

Cucumis Melo

The mighty melon is indeed a member of the gourd family which includes cucumbers, pumpkins and squashes/zucchinis. Even though hard-skinned, strong-stemmed gourds are mostly New World plants, the origin of the melon is Africa.

A bewildering number of cultivars have evolved from the wild melon plants, among the more popular: cantaloups/summer muskmelons (bright orange flesh with a netted, scaly exterior), honeydew (celery-green flesh, hard smooth skin), Ambrosia (looks like a canteloup but flesh is softer, more fragrant), watermelon (bright pinkish-red, grainy, slightly sweet flesh with a green and white hard smooth skin).

I bought my melon (pictured) at Fiesta Farms (mentioned in NOW magazine as a good, cheaper alternative to big box store produce) on Christie Street north of Bloor where their extensive Ontario produce (huge heads of Ontario broccoli with their 'hoods' still on!) looks fresh and bountiful. I assumed it was a crenshaw melon but as I researched melons I realized it was probably a muskmelon. It has scallopped edges if you put it on its stem end and cut through its middle. The skin is carved into perfect melon slices if you cut it lengthwise. I picked a melon that wasn't too ripe so the flesh is still firm, slightly crisp and watery and less pungent and perfumey than one that has become soft to the touch.

Melon is wonderful served in an antipasto fashion with slices of cured meat; the sweet crisp flesh undercuts the saltiness of the meats. It is also delicious served after dinner with a digestif. But I like it simply cut up and doused in fresh lime juice as the start to my day.

The Taste of Honey

When I was in Creemore over Thankgsiving weekend I visited my favourite apple factory in Glen Huron. Grandma Giffin is world famous or at least locally famous for her incredible pies, butter tarts, and muffins. I used to buy her pies to serve at the art retreat centre I cooked at and when the vegetarians of the group oohed and aahed over her pies I thought keeping the lard factor a secret wouldn't really hurt anyone (especially those vegetarians who were lactose/gluten/sugar intolerant and allergic to garlic AND onions which obviously made my life absolute hell). There were huge wooden boxes of apples and each bushel was $5 with the second bushel FREE.

I bought 1/2 bushels of Mutsu/Crispin, Honeycrisp, and Spy apples. The honeycrisps are smallish in size (perfect for a child) and a total balance between sweet and tart with a reddish skin and a firm crisp flesh. Mom and I first came across this new hybrid apple a few years ago (it's the offspring of the Macoun and the Honeygold Apple and was first cross-pollinated at the University of Minnesota in the 60s) and it's quickly become a favourite. In fact it's so popular that fruit growers in Nova Scotia are ripping out the traditional McIntosh orchards and replacing them with the more lucrative Honeycrisp trees according to CBC news.

Smoked Trout and Mango Salad

The other weekend I was on babysitting duty for my two nieces (2 1/2 and 11 months) with my mom. We strapped them into strollers and headed out for the morning, not without incident however. While mom and I stopped for extra large coffees at the Cherry Bomb cafe on Roncesvalles Avenue (mom had been up since 5:30 with the little ones) Kyra ran to the Film Buff for Crunchy Frog icecream - mint icecream with chocolate chunks. It wasn't even 9 a.m. She got hyper and didn't want to be strapped into her stroller because she's such a 'big girl' which inevitably led to us hitting a large curb as I raced across a pedestrian walk and the stroller flipped and she scraped her knees and fell flat on her face. Then of course all she wanted was 'grandma' who was on the other side of the street and long out of sight as she bustled to try to get the baby to sleep. The magic solution was taking my traumatised neice into Scooter Girl, an excellent children's gift store, where she became instantly distracted by toys.

The four of us then moved on to High Park in search of their Saturday morning Organic Farmers Market. It's a small but elaborate set up under a tent on the hill near the restaurant. There are tons of organic fruits and vegetables and, since it's early September, lots of end of summer into early fall produce. I passed on the squashes but we did see some delectable perfectly unripe green mangoes.

Green mangoes make a delicious accompaniment to smoked fish and it is the perfect foil to the late arrival of fall. It makes a great side dish to curried shrimp and rice. This recipe comes from "Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet", the beautifully written and photographed Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid cookbook.

Smoked Fish and Green Mango

2 green mangoes
1 small smoked trout
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves (a bit of mint is encouraged)

Dressing
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced shallots
1 Tbsp minced galangal OR 1 tsp minced ginger with a pinch of grated lemon zest

Peel the mangoes and coarsely grate. Or finely julienne the flesh. Put in a bowl.
Remove and discard the skin and the bones from the fish. Chop into small pieces and add to the mango. Stir in the coriander and set aside.
In another small bowl, combine the ingredients for the dressing.

Canteloup & Lime

I love fruit first thing in the morning. It's been my ritual for 10 years. It's always the first thing I put in my mouth. I'm unable of putting anything dry or flaky or toast-like or cereal-ish into my mouth until I've eaten fruit and drunk some tea or coffee.

My fruit habits are pretty seasonal. All winter I consume citrus fruits because they are at their prime juiciness and because I got spoiled growing up with grandparents who were snow-birds and sent us boxes of Indian River pink grapefruits for Christmas each year. About this time of year when the skin on oranges and grapefruits starts to thicken and pull away from the flesh and the interior becomes mealy and light coloured I tend to veer towards melons. I'm in the nascent of melon eating right now and it's a beautiful thing. This morning I split open a large firm sweet smelling canteloup, cut out its seeds, and then pared it into wedges that then became square bite size pieces that I put into a tupperware and seasoned with fresh lime juice. Kiwis sometimes make the cut too. Then I'll start into honeydews before they get too ripe and saturated in their own juice. Then suddenly it's berry season - strawberries and blueberries and slices of just ripened still tart mango. And then before you know it I'm eating grapefruit again as the sky darkens and winter arrives. But hey, I'm getting ahead of myself. Melon. Spring. We're nearly there.

The Pips of Pomegranates

Pomegranates are surely the sexiest of fruits. Not only do they historically symbolize fertility and rebirth but their actual physical being represents all things EROTIC: a leathery rind capped with a crown, a lucious interior of edible pink pulp, a personality that masochistically vacillates between sweet and sour, and a sassy slowly-untie-me outfit that requires a lot of work in order to get to the fruit inside. The best way to wrangle your way in is to cut off the crown and then cut the pomegranate into sections. Place the sections in a bowl of water, then roll out the arils with your fingers. Discard everything else. Strain out the water. Then open a bottle of slightly sparkling low sugar riesling (the Ontario Cave Spring label is very good) and feed the succulent arils whole, seeds and all, to a lover.

Pomegranates have such a lovely hue and rustic shape that they make perfect holiday decorations (edible decorations are my favourite kind!). Add them to vases of green berries, pine cones, holly and any other greenery. You can stand candles in this arrangement or gather it all around a bulb of an amaryllis.

Also, check out this wonderfully informative website with great recipe ideas and tantalizing photos!

Photo and recipe credit to POM wonderful pomegranates.

Strawberries and Mint

Last Thursday I went to the apple factory to buy their last harvest of asparagus, picked that morning and laid to rest in huge plastic containers of water. The spears were between 1 - 2 feet long. I bought 8 lbs worth. However, while ruminating over and repenting the end of my beloved vegetable's season for another year, I noticed a few quarts of strawberries. The charming girl in braids behind the counter confirmed that, yes, indeed, these were the first pick of the season. Nature always sneaks up behind you with another sun kissed promise just when you start losing hope.

Fresh strawberries are good in all sorts of preserves and pies, cakes and tarts, but they are also exquisite trimmed and tossed with lemon juice, a sprinkling of sugar and chopped fresh mint. Delicious for breakfast and perfect after a summer dinner and a glass of gewurztraminer.