I've had a cantaloupe sitting in my fruit basket for over a week now and it just kept getting overlooked. Today I noticed it was getting a little soft and perhaps on the verge of becoming overripe. Because it would be silly to finish a whole cantaloupe by myself just because it isn't going to last very long, I thought turning it into a jam might be nice. I've never seen a cantaloupe jam and have never made any sort of preserve out of a melon-type fruit, but I figured that the worst case scenario would be that I'd end up with a cantaloupe soup...which probably isn't the worst thing in the world.
Luckily, the jam turned out delicious and the color was beautiful, almost like a pumpkin (oh! pumpkin jam!) and it tasted very honeyed. In fact, I think I'll use in place of honey with Greek yogurt for breakfast tomorrow. I'm curious as to why we don't see melon jams around. I found that the cantaloupe gelled very well, without any pectin. Maybe there's some sort of natural gelatin-type substance in melons, maybe the ripeness of the melon made the amount of natural sugars perfect for making jams.
I feel good. I feel like I prevented a cantaloupe from going to waste.
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