Weird Ingredient Wednesday: The Alien Melon from Star Trek

Mother Nature's creativity is infinite, especially when it comes to fruit. We've got black sapote, which tastes like chocolate pudding, and Buddha's hand citron, which looks like Freddy Kreuger's digits merged with a lemon. How could she possibly top herself?

Well, check out this piece of fruit—and yes, it is a piece of fruit and not an egg-pod dropped off by our soon-to-be alien overlords:

Open it up, and the weirdness/beauty continues:

This, my friends, is a kiwano, or an African horned melon (Cucumus metuliferus). And yes, it was once featured on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as a Golana melon (episode name: "Time's Orphan").

This spiny, spiky fruit is native to South Africa and is actually a member of both the cucumber and melon families, as befitting its sturdy yellow rind and gelatinous-looking insides. It's now grown in several different areas and is called a kiwano in New Zealand, a melano in Israel, and a cuke-asaurus in Washington state.

Despite its spiky armor, kiwanos are very pleasant to eat. As befitting its multiple names, the fruit is mild and sweet and can taste like a cross between melons, cucumbers, limes, and bananas. The entire fruit is edible, including the peel, but many people choose to scoop, spoon, or suck out the jelly-like insides and spit out the seeds. (Note: the kiwano is ripe when it turns orange.)

Kiwanos work great in fruit salads, smoothies, and desserts, like this kiwano-orange eggless ice cream from It's Yummi:

Cucumbertown went and made this kiwano-grapefruit cocktail, which looks perfect for summer:

If you're more about savory dishes, Food Network has a recipe for grilled beef with horned melon sauce. And What's This Food? has a great twist on General Tso's Chicken called, of course, General Kiwano Chicken:

Have you tried this beast of a fruit?

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