A few days ago I mentioned that I tried red pummelo for the first time. During the same grocery shopping excursion I also picked up a Juan canary melon, which is another fruit I had never had before. I brought it home and put it on the counter to finish ripening.
I named my Juan canary melon Old Yeller.
While I waited for it to ripen I decided to find out where the name Juan Canary came from. Canary seems to be a reference to the yellow color. I was unable to find an explanation for the name Juan. Some sources list the fruit as canary melon, some as Juan canary melon, and others as Spanish melon.I guess the common name will remain a mystery for the time being.
Even the botanical name has some mystery to it. The fruit comes from a plant classified as Cucumis melo var. inodorus. However, that plant must have numerous cultivars, for it is also responsible for several other melons (including honeydew). When I found seeds for sale they were sold simply as Cucumis melo inodorus with a notation for fruit type (ie: canary melon, honeydew, etc).
The outer rind of the canary melon becomes yellow and waxy as the fruit ripens. Today I deemed it yellow and waxy enough.
A sliced canary melon.
The mesocarp and endocarp are the edible parts of this pepo. My first association was to honeydew, in fact I think someone could have convinced me that it was just an extraordinarily sweet honeydew if I had not seen the yellow exocarp.
Canary melon gets a thumbs up from me. I wouldn’t rank it above cantaloupe or honeydew, but it is right there with them.
