REFRESHING – that may be the most apt description for melons. Served alone, paired with prosciutto or puréed with lime juice to make agua fresca, melons are hard to beat for their ease in preparation and sweet taste. Here is a primer to sort out the types.

MELONS 101

CANARY
Shaped like the oval Crenshaw, the canary melon has bright canary yellow skin. Inside, their nearly white flesh is juicy and tender, very sweet. Midsummer through early fall is when they are at their best.

CANTALOUPE
True cantaloupes are gaining ground in this country, and are well known in Europe and the Middle East. They have a harder skin, are more round and smaller than our muskmelons. The sutures (lines that run vertically on the melon) are there, but the skin is smooth, not netted. Charentais is a particularly good variety.

CASABA
Unlike the other melons, casaba melons do not have an aroma. This is a large melon that is pale yellow when ripe and has white flesh with a sweet taste. This melon peaks in the fall, but starts showing up in markets in July through December.

CRENSHAW
These melons can weigh up to 10 pounds and deliver a unique sweet and spicy flavor. They are a hybrid between the casaba and Persian melon with a yellowish skin and salmon-colored flesh. A little pointy on the stem end, they’re oval-shaped and thin skinned. Peak season for Crenshaw melons is August through September.

HONEYDEW
Possibly the sweetest of all the melons and averaging five to six pounds, honeydews have a creamy yellow rind when ripe and pale green or orange flesh. They’re best from June through October, and keep very well.

MUSKMELON
Most of the melons sold as cantaloupes in America are actually muskmelons. Some have deep sutures, but many sold in the Western United States do not. This familiar fruit with orange flesh and khaki- colored netted skin provides the most beta-carotene in the entire melon family. Select melons that are slightly golden with a light fragrant smell (an indication of its ripeness). Muskmelons are typically available year-round, with a June through August peak season.

PERSIAN
This melon is quite similar to the cantaloupe, but is slightly larger in size, has a greener rind, and the outside has finer netting. Persian melons peak in August and September with the season beginning in June and ending in November.

SANTA CLAUS
This melon is also known as the Christmas melon because it peaks during the month of December. This variety is similar to the watermelon with the green and gold stripes, but is about a foot long and isn’t as sweet as the other melons.

SHARLYN
This melon tastes like a combination of cantaloupe and honeydew. Sharlyn melons are sweet with a netted outer layer, greenish-orange rind, and white flesh.

WATERMELON
Small or large, red or yellow fleshed, seedless or not – we all know and love watermelons. If a watermelon is ripe, the patch on the bottom where it rested on the ground will be yellow, not white or pale green. A dull rind with waxy appearance, rather than shiny, also signifies ripeness.

--information gathered from
www.foodreference.com
and Chez Panisse Fruit
by Alice Waters