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Zerbinati melon with cucumber, mint and mountain feta at Lord’s.
Photograph: Patricia Howard/Courtesy of Lord’s
In the newest subject of the journal, our critic Matthew Schneier critiques Smithereens within the East Village. There’s a lot to love about each the assessment and the restaurant (they serve Moxie!), however amongst all the things Matthew mentions, one dish specifically caught out to me: “Skinny slices of gentle sea bream are pretty with candy, musky tiles of Zerbinati melon — the Alfa Romeo of cantaloupes.” Sounds good! However I seen it principally as a result of I’ve been seeing these goddamn melons completely in all places.
It’s a troublesome identify to overlook on menus: They’re become candy-sweet sorbet at I Cavallini. Served as a summery cucumber-and-feta salad at Lord’s. Shingled onto some tuna up at Saga and whizzed right into a dressing at Penny.
These will not be, you may be stunned to study, some Greenmarket-darling fruit fetishized by locavore cooks. They arrive from Lombardy — imported by Natoora — and are grown by Oscar Zerbinati, a farmer whose dedication to those issues is so excessive that he “applies a chalk-and-gravel-based sunscreen” to his fruit to assist shield it from the cruel Italian solar.
“They’ve an extremely delicate texture, they usually’re extremely juicy,” says Lord’s chef, Ed Szymanski. “They usually’re very candy with a depth of taste — the Zerbinatis have an umami backnote to them so it isn’t simply sugar water.” (There may be one draw back, he provides. “They’re extremely costly.’)
These will not be simply an ingredient. They’re presents from the earth, the soil wherein they’re grown enriched by each the River Po and the divine hand of Ceres herself. However are they actually so a lot better than humble American melons? Effectively, it helps that the season for Zerbinatis begins earlier than ours. However this time of 12 months, even Szymanski says native melons may be comparable.
I bought a sugar dice from Phillips Farms in New Jersey the opposite weekend that was like somebody had squeezed a full-size cantaloupe right into a super-concentrated model of itself. It was so candy it made my complete condo scent like a freshly unwrapped Hello-Chew. Consuming it at peak ripeness made me marvel if a few of the sugar had began to ferment. No melon I’ve eaten this summer season — together with Zerbinati — has been as intense, however I do perceive that the phrase “Zerbinati,” as Matthew identified in his assessment, provides actual intercourse attraction on a menu.
“Zerbinati” doesn’t sound like meals. It seems like a little bit roadster James Dean would’ve owned. A Zerbinati is the automotive your dad saved within the storage however by no means allow you to drive. A Zerbinati isn’t a melon; it’s forbidden fruit. And it is going to be out of season very quickly, so order it when you see it.
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