A Perfect Melon Awaits

That's good to know, but those who stop by Means's stand on their way to or from the beach don't have to inspect. They just need to tell Means what they're after. "I check every item before I put it in the bag," he says, "and I make sure every customer who wants a melon gets a good one."

Lately, supermarkets have gotten into the act, trying to manage their stock of melons so customers find the degree of ripeness they desire.

"We have a harder job," says Steve Thiergart, who oversees produce operations for Wegmans stores in the Washington area, "because we have customers who shop only once a week and are buying fruit they won't be eating for a few days."

The Wegmans produce departments "stage" their melons, ideally providing a selection of fruit that is ready to eat and fruit that will ripen within the week on a kitchen countertop. On Thiergart's short list of ways to spot a good one: The melon should be heavy for its size; it should not be too firm; you should be able to feel the flesh under the rind, or the difference between the rind and the flesh; and smelling it is an option only if you have a very good nose.

I come from a line of avid melon eaters. My grandmother included melon in the lunches she served me during my school vacations. In melon season, my father still prowls markets searching for perfection. His favorite way to eat melon is pretty simple: Cut it into wedges, remove the seeds and dig in. I've seen him make a meal out of a melon. Honeydew is his favorite, but it's almost impossible to get good local honeydews, so he has switched to cantaloupes. My mother-in-law likes to wrap prosciutto around peeled cantaloupe wedges. I'm happy to eat melon as they do or with a scoop of cottage cheese, a combination that's a little dated but as good as ever.

When there's more melon on hand than you can eat, add some to the blender for a smoothie. Ripe, juicy melons make great blended drinks. Or dice the fruit and use it to top vanilla ice cream.

It's also fun to use melon in different contexts. I've mixed cantaloupe with cucumber and dressed the fruit with a chili sauce-laced vinaigrette to make a salad that is sweet, spicy and crunchy all at the same time. Mixing diced melon with sour cream and mint, I've made a sauce that dresses up poached salmon.

Over the course of many summers, I have tried making watermelon drinks, watermelon soups and watermelon granita -- and I'll stick with watermelon sliced into half- or quarter-rounds. A good watermelon is perfect just as it is, unadorned.

Whatever your preference, now's the time: We're at the tail end of the local melon season. Already, the evenings hint at fall. Summer days and the sweet slices of melon they produced are coming to an end.

Stephanie Witt Sedgwick, a former Food section recipe editor, can be reached at food@washpost.com. Her In Season column appears monthly.