Sweet Melon

Cantaloupe grown in the UAE — netted skin, dense orange flesh, and a musky sweetness quite different from watermelon. It is a fruit you eat in wedges rather than by the bowl.

Cold on its own, or with a squeeze of lime which lifts it considerably. It is also the melon for a mezze plate with mint, and the classic partner for something salty and cured. Blended with milk and a little sugar it makes the melon sharbat that turns up around Ramadan.

Smell the stem end: a ripe cantaloupe is unmistakably sweet from a few centimetres away. The end should give slightly under a thumb, and the netting on the skin should be raised and coarse. A green cast to the skin means it was cut too early and it will not improve much.

Counter until fragrant, then the fridge. A whole ripe melon holds about four days cold.

Cut melon must be wrapped — it perfumes everything in a fridge within hours. Three days once cut.