We often say that something is like “an unopened melon” when we don’t know how it will turn out. Well, it seems that there are fruit brands that do not apply this maxim, because for them opening a melon is almost always a guarantee of success.
How do they do that? How do they know that a particular melon will have that sweetness and texture that we all want? The founder and manager of Fruites Núria, and collaborator of Via Lliure, Pere Puigbert, has the information.
As in other sectors, if you have money you can also have the best product. Puigbert explains that the big brands with the golden labels pay farmers a higher price for reserving the good melons.
For starters, over the years, growers have limited themselves to planting only the melon varieties that they know do best. In addition, the type of soil -more sandy and rich in potassium- also plays an important role.
“Within the same melon plant (the plant that makes the melons), there are some melons that are better than others,” he says. “The first melons that have emerged, the closest to the root, are the ones that have had the most food and, therefore, the best – they are called ‘first cut’.”
“The best brands are already going to look for everything they can from the first slice and even from the second,” he reveals. “The later melons end up in supermarkets for a lower price.”
In addition, these companies keep the fruits that have exceeded a certain size and weight. “Normally they buy them by the piece and weigh at least three or four kilos, they don’t want them smaller,” adds Puigbert. “The lower, the less valued.”
In fact, the big brands have other sub-brands to sell those pieces that it is not so clear how they will come out. For example, the earliest melons that go on sale, grown in greenhouses without soil, do not perform as well as those that are already in season.
There are a series of details that can tell us if the melon will be more or less sweet. When we go to the store to buy, we must take all this into account:
When buying half melons or half watermelons, already cut pieces, make sure they are well packaged and refrigerated at the greengrocers or supermarket. Otherwise, you could risk getting poisoned.
Once at home, you should leave it out of the fridge in a cool and dry place (if it is already ripe and it is very hot you can refrigerate it). The other fruits can accelerate its maturation, so it is better that you keep it away from contact with them. This can help you to ripen a melon that is too green: put it in a paper bag with a banana or an apple and you will speed up its ripening.
When you have opened the piece, remove the ends, cover it with a film or plastic and put it in the fridge.
Read here the original piece of RAC1.
