Fruit of the Month

Fruit+of+the+Month

Aviv Roskes and Claire Schmitt

One of the biggest dangers that fruit-eating presents is how easy it is to fall into a rut. While we love our routine of honeycrisps and clementines, we decided that it was time to explore what else the fruit world had to offer. Does this make us risk-takers? Heroes? Heroines? Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

So, as we stepped up to the automatic doors of the Tenley Whole Foods, we cleared our minds and took a deep breath. We knew it wouldn’t be easy to step out of our comfort zone, but felt the burning obligation to you, our readers, to embark on the ultimate fruit adventure.

We took our first steps into the produce section, but were quickly disappointed. “What the butt?!” we said in unison, as we looked around and only saw oldies but goodies. Bananas, apples, berries—you are not what we were looking for! Even you, beloved plums, are too familiar for us thrill-seekers. We still had not found the fruit that prickled our pear.

Dejected and lonely, we wandered further into the darkness. And then we saw it. The kiwano horned melon was yellow, prickly, and we needed to know more. Unsure about what to do with the unfamiliar fruit, we waited until a heroic Whole Foods employee came to the rescue, using his very own knife to open it for us. Inside, it was green like a kiwi, yet slimey and full of seeds like a passion fruit.

Would it be sweet? Would it be sour? Only time would tell. We each held half in our hand and—on the count of three—dug into the seedy middle with our spoons. The first bite was underwhelming. So was the second. We took more and more, hoping that these were just flukes that would give way to a magical pocket of tropical flavor. But alas, they did not.

The flavor of the kiwano horned melon could best be described as jello but instead of adding flavor they just added a bunch of seeds. The kiwano horned melon internet community says that it tastes like a mix of zucchini, cucumber, and kiwi, and we couldn’t agree more. If that sounds good to you, then don’t let us deter you from trying one. We simply ask that you leave us out of it!

While we did not come out of this experience with a new favorite fruit, we certainly learned a lot. The kiwano horned melon proved that we could be trailblazers to fruit fanatics everywhere. While we could have backed down and reviewed a more classically adored fruit, we were inspired by the burning desire to immerse ourselves in new fruitsperiences.