Horned Melon

Horned Melon: So.. i needed to go to Harris Teeter to get a few things for a nice dinner that I am making.. and I was wandering by the bananas and then stumbled upon the "exotic fruit" section. I browsed through and decided upon a Horned Melon.

A horned melon, Kiwano, or African Horned Melon, is a fruit that originally came from Africa (duh). Then they began to be grown in Australia and New Zealand in the 1900's. Now there are some horned melon farms in California! 

The one I bought is bright orange and it has sharp spikes all over it! The cashier was actually in pain when he squeezed it too tight! Supposedly if it is orange that means it is ripe :-)


So I just couldn't wait to see what it looked like inside and how it tasted.. so I ate within 2 hours of buying it!


So I sliced it long ways and found..much to my surprise a green inside.. I then cut off a slice to taste. It had a jelly like/gooey consistency.. with seeds like a cucumber. In terms of flavor... it didn't have a strong flavor (off flavor cucumber?), but then again I did not particularly like it. It was okay.. but not something that I would buy again (good to know because it wasn't cheap!)