The Santa Claus melon, sometimes known as Christmas melon or Piel de Sapo

Piel de Sapo

Piel de Sapo. Turkish name is Kelek, and Kurdish name is Khirchan , commonly known and marketed as Santa Claus melon, family Cucurbitaceae is a type of melon widely available in the Northern Hemisphere. It has a blotched green peel after which it is named...

, is a variety of melon that grows to approximately 1 foot in length and is oblong

Rectangle

In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is any quadrilateral with four right angles. The term "oblong" is occasionally used to refer to a non-square rectangle...

 in shape. It has a thick outer green-striped rind

Peel (fruit)

Peel, also known as rind or skin, is the outer protective layer of a fruit or vegetable which could be peeled off. The rind is usually the botanical exocarp, but the term exocarp does also include the hard cases of nuts, which are not named peels since they are not peeled off by hand or peeler, but...

 with a pale green inner pulp

Juice vesicles

The juice vesicles of a citrus fruit are the membranous content of the fruit’s endocarp. The vesicles contain the juice of the fruit. The pulp is usually removed from the juice by filtering it out...

 that provides a mild melon flavor, that can be as sweet as honeydew melons, if not more so.

A Santa Claus melon is usually consumed for breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a night's sleep, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day's work...

, lunch, dessert

Dessert

In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...

, or as a snack. The melon should be slightly soft, especially on the ends, and should be washed, split in half length-wise, and its seeds spooned out. It is similar to a cantaloupe

Cantaloupe

"Rockmelon" redirects here, for the band see Rockmelons. See also Cantaloupe .Cantaloupe refers to a variety of Cucumis melo, a species in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes nearly all melons and squashes. Cantaloupes range in size from...

 on the inside.

Growing season

Grown in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, Santa Claus melon season is harvested from June through October. During the winter months, Santa Claus melons are imported from South America.

Description

This variety is similar to the canary melon

Canary melon

The Canary melon is a large, bright-yellow melon with a pale green to white inner flesh. This melon has a distinctively sweet flavor that is slightly tangier than a honeydew melon. The flesh looks like that of a pear but is softer and tastes a little like a cantaloupe. When ripe, the rind has a...

 except the rind of the Santa Claus variety is a mottled green and yellow.

The attractive green and gold-to-bright yellow striped Santa Claus melon somewhat resembles a small watermelon

Watermelon

Watermelon is a vine-like flowering plant originally from southern Africa. Its fruit, which is also called watermelon, is a special kind referred to by botanists as a pepo, a berry which has a thick rind and fleshy center...

. Inside is a mellow and mildly flavored pale greenish flesh very similar to that of a honeydew but much sweeter. The color of the characteristic stripes on its hard shell is a sign of this melon's ripeness. The brighter the yellow, the riper and sweeter it is. The ripest Santa Claus melon will have soft blossom ends that yield to gentle pressure and a vibrant yellow hue. Because of its thick skin, this melon doesn't release a telltale aroma when ripe.

This melon was named in recognition of its long keeping qualities...until Christmas. Even though it is a very good keeper, this holiday melon was actually named because its peak season is in December. Maturing about one hundred-ten days after planting, this melon can grow to twelve inches in length and be six inches in diameter.

Nutritional Value

Low in calories, sodium

Sodium

Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...

 and fat-free, melons contain no cholesterol

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...

. A source of vitamin C

Vitamin C

Vitamin C or L-ascorbic acid or L-ascorbate is an essential nutrient for humans and certain other animal species. In living organisms ascorbate acts as an antioxidant by protecting the body against oxidative stress...

, nutritious melons offer a source of dietary fiber

Dietary fiber

Dietary fiber, dietary fibre, or sometimes roughage is the indigestible portion of plant foods having two main components:* soluble fiber that is readily fermented in the colon into gases and physiologically active byproducts, and* insoluble fiber that is metabolically inert, absorbing water as it...

.

Uses

The flesh of uncut melons is juicier and softer if kept at room temperature one or two days before serving. Once ripened or cut, it should be refrigerated in plastic. An excellent keeper, this hardy melon can be kept up to six weeks longer than other varieties.