Depending on whom you ask, people will tell you they prefer one over the other.
Cantaloupes are sweet and tasty, some people will tell you. But they are also hard and taste bad when unripe, and it’s difficult to figure out if the fruit is ripe or not, others will argue.
Honeydew melons are juicy, with just the right amount of sweetness and very tasty, say members of the honeydew club. But they are also bland, almost always unripe or over ripened and definitely not worth the cost, so say the opposition.
It’s not just that a majority of people has a love/hate relationship with these fruits. Hating the cantaloupe or the honeydew or both is a thing now. Even people who love, love, love watermelons have a difficult relationship with these two.
A matter of taste
Fruits, just like with any other types of food, are a matter of taste. Some people will like something, others will not. It’s a tale as old as time. If you can believe there are people who don’t like burgers, then you won’t find it at all surprising to hear there are people who like watermelons but don’t like honeydews or cantaloupes.
The truth is that once you’ve had a really bad experience with these fruits you’re bound to hate them for life. Eating unripe or overripe fruits has as much of an effect on your taste buds as on your mind. You just won’t feel like eating them ever again.
So with cantaloupes and honeydews and which is better – it’s all really up to you to decide. If you like sweeter fruits, cantaloupes are a better choice, and the advantage to eating it is you’ll get more nutritional value off it because cantaloupes contain more vitamin C than honeydews and a lot more beta-carotene.
On the other hand, if you’re a melon fan with your mouth ready for any kind of melon, honeydew will do just fine too. Of course, you can always have both.
How to enjoy cantaloupe and honeydew melons
Make sure you only buy them ripe and if you buy fruit trays and fruit cups, don’t be shy to ask about the ripeness of the fruits. At least seven out of ten times retailers will sell you unripe fruits, which is such a waste of money and a really unpleasant experience. So make sure your provider sells you the good stuff.
Once you have that, enjoy cantaloupes and honeydews in Caprese salad, with rye crackers topped with ricotta and sliced ham, or make a wonderful parfait with pistachios and vanilla ice cream.
Because these two melons have the texture for it, you can also make ice cream at home. You won’t find many cantaloupe-flavored or honeydew-flavored desserts on the market, so you might as well prepare homemade ice cream yourself.
Recipe no 1
Calls for any kind of milk – although it is recommended that you use whole milk for a creamy result (it is ice cream after all, so let’s forget healthy for a moment), sugar, salt, melon pulp and pure vanilla extract.
Ingredients altogether, fill up your ice cream maker (don’t forget to put the freezer bowl into the freezer as per you ice cream maker’s directions) and fire away.
Recipe no 2
Calls for 500 grams melon pulp, 3 egg yolks, 100 grams sugar, 1 cup heavy cream and pure vanilla extract.
Process the melon pulp with a food processor until smooth, and then mix the egg yolks with the sugar and the vanilla until mixture turns fluffy and thick.
Whip the heavy cream until stiff and add little by little to the egg yolk mixture. Add melon pure and combine. Finally, transfer into a container with tight-fitting silicone lid and freeze preferably overnight.