Jackson Free Press

A Houma, LA, homeowner finds an interesting species of vege-melon growing among her cucumbers and cantaloupes. Thanks to accidental crossbreeding, I'm able to post an article with a silly title.

(AP) They're a yard long and a good few inches across. The skin is waxy, sort of like a cucumber, but yellow and ridged like a canteloupe. A half dozen of them grew between the cucumbers and cantaloupes in a Houma home garden.

"We call it a cuculoupe," Karen Dusenbery said.

As good a name as any.

"Science is strange sometimes," LSU AgCenter agent Barton Joffrion said after examining the whatsits...Both are members of the Cucurbit family, which includes pumpkins and gourds as well as melons and cucumbers.

Cucumbers and cantaloupes are closely related enough to swap genes, Joffrion said. He'd never seen anything like the Dusenberys' whatever.

"In the first generation, they'll cross and you'll get an unusual fruit," Joffrion said.

The firm flesh inside is yellow and somewhat sweet but has a flavor more like cucumber than cantaloupe, Tim Dusenbery said.

The Dusenberys said they are saving the seeds and hope to get more next year...

Full text here. Since I love cucumber melon fragrances, I wonder if Bath & Body Works will come out with a cuculoupe body spray, lotion, body wash, etc. I wouldn't mind tasting a cuculoupe, either. Hear that, Rainbow Whole Foods?

Previous Comments

ID

106783

Comment

I like cantaloupe, but cucumber is -- tasteless. It tastes like crunchy water. Not bad, but I just don;t understand people who say they LIKE cucumber. What's there to like? So I figure the thing tastes liek watered down cantaloupe, so it's probably no good to eat. But I bet there's a fortune to be made in the Bath and Body Works market. I think it needs a sexier name for that market. OR at least a more soothing one. "Cuculoupe" sounds like a secret marriage between crazy people. Hmmm. Cantacumber? No, that's no good. Cantacucumbaloupe? Maybe. Any other suggestions?

Author

GLB

Date

2006-07-13T10:18:26-06:00

ID

106784

Comment

I'm a cucumber fan, but it has to do with what I add to it, like vinegar or ranch dresssing. As for the name, I don't think it's official. I've heard of tangelos and broccoflower, so how about cucucans? :-P

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2006-07-14T00:01:18-06:00

ID

106785

Comment

Cucucans -- I think I like it. "I'm cukoo for cucucans" comes to mind... And I guess I do really like cucumbers with vinegar and onions. My sister and I used to eat that a lot when we were in college. Yummy.

Author

GLB

Date

2006-07-14T11:04:38-06:00

ID

106786

Comment

i can eat a cucumber like others eat bananas...so fresh...so crisp! i've always been really big on textures in foods. i wonder if those cucucans are organic.....perhaps we could get them...

Author

daniel johnson

Date

2006-07-19T14:37:56-06:00

ID

106787

Comment

GLB, I love cucumbers and tomatoes in vinegar. Mmmmmmm. Daniel, that would be an interesting project for Rainbow to take on. I would like to sample this new creation.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2006-07-19T20:14:59-06:00