Friends of Bitter Melon, I have a sad, sorry confession to make. In my quest
to coerce my untrained tastebuds to love the gourd as much as I know that I
could and should, I’ve been dutifully incorporating it into my daily cuisine
routine. Unfortunately a busy life has left me to a rather monotonous eating
regime when it comes to utilizing this bitter green gourd: salads, salads, and
salads. Well, and one sandwich.
I've been told by experienced melon eaters that raw is not the way to go for
first-timers. I have to agree. For all of you Bitter Melon newbies, I suggest
blanching, sautéing, or spicing and baking this vegetable before eating. I
myself plan on trying the same. Otherwise, it has a rather loud presence when
consumed un-cooked.
The flavor was blending in quite nicely with the salads I prepared for the first
few days of the experiment. Lettuce, kale, cabbage, raisins, walnuts, Bitter
Melon, orange pepper, and a salad dressing of balsamic, soy sauce, olive oil
and tahini. The richness of the tahini and sweetness of the raisins cut the
bitter Bitter Melon. In fact, I appreciated the zip here and there when I
found pieces mixed in with the salad bites. Today, however, the salad fixing
choices were more reserved: lettuce, Bitter Melon, and orange pepper to add a
little sweet tang. I chose only olive oil, salt, pepper, adobo seasoning and a
splash of balsamic to dress. Something about the combination accentuated the
bitterness of Bitter Melon. I spiked several pieces with my fork to begin the
meal but by the end was fishing through the last bitter cubes for pieces of
lettuce and pepper. I ended up quitting while I was ahead -- for the first
time since the Malaysian restaurant fiasco I tossed out the remaining bitter
melon at the bottom of the salad bowl. Hating to waste food like that, I vow
not to do it again. Maybe it would do well to marinate in Tupperware overnight
anyway.
Regardless of my aforementioned moment of weakness, I have a fun Bitter Melon
story that I'd like to share:
I returned home last week after touring the South End in search of
establishments to join the Bitter Melon Week network, melons in tow. My
roommate was home. He and his girlfriend have been intrigued by this new
veggie-obsession-profession of mine and were curious to take a taste. I
sliced a section from one I was cutting up for dinner. Both gave it a try
(good for them and their adventurous palettes!) and chewed up an entire raw
section. What's more, my roommate recognized the flavor! He let out a yelp
and said, "I thought that's what it was!" As it turns out, his parents (both
South Indian) are big fans. They call it "Pavaka" (Tamil for Bitter Melon.)
His mother would cook it when he was a kid. Needless to say he didn't enjoy it
then and doesn't to this day. Who could have known I'm only two-degrees from
Bitter Melon!
How many degrees from Bitter Melon are you? I welcome your comments and
contributions!
Andi Sutton
Director of Public Relations
National Bitter Melon Council
"Better Living Through Bitter Melon"
[email protected]
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