Winter Watermelon

אבטיח חורפי

Yes, you read the title correctly! Winter Watermelon :)
Ein Yahav's farmer Itay Gal & Chishtil (a global nursery corporation based in Moshav Nechalim whose mission it is to provide horticultural solutions, utilizing innovative and economic technologies based on cutting edge knowledge) "came up" with this new fruit. 


When I heard them say on TV that you can now have fresh, sweet, refreshing watermelon even during the winter months I was extremely skeptical, yet intrigued. Is it really possible to have this wonderful summer fruit in the middle of winter? Will it really be as sweet and delicious as its summertime counterpart? I didn’t expect to like it but I knew I had to try it on the small chance that I can actually have one of my favorite summer fruits all year round.

This winter watermelon, which took about 8 years to develop, is a lot smaller than your average summertime watermelon. They are only available in "individual" sized fruits which are about 3 kilo maximum. You will not see a yellowish spot on the fruit like you do on the summer watermelon because this fruit dose not sit on the ground, instead it grows hanging from a red mesh bag that actually remain on the fruit even once it gets to your local supermarket.

I was so pleasantly surprised how sweet and refreshing this wonderful watermelon was. Yes it was slightly different than the summer watermelon, maybe even sweeter than many watermelons I've tasted but I thought it was absolutely enjoyable and delicious. 

 

Aside from "Winter Watermelon" another name given to this watermelon by the farmer is "Orange Watermelon" because supposedly the fruit has a slight orange hue to it. It doesn’t actually look all that orange to me but it's not as red or pink like the summer watermelon. Don’t let that put you off. It doesn't mean it's sour or "powdery" like it may indicate if you saw that color on a summer watermelon. Don’t think it means your watermelon is not sweet or that it's a sign that the fruit "went bad". With the winter version the orangey tone is actually the color it's meant to be.

The only downside to this winter watermelon is the price. 6.99 NIS a kilo is way more than you pay for watermelon during the summer months. Although I really enjoyed it I don’t think I'm willing to pay such a high price for sweet winter watermelon on a regular basis.

Bottom Line: I was extremely impressed with how sweet and enjoyable this Winter Watermelon was. It's amazing to have such a refreshing summertime treat in January. I just hope that they are able to find a way to lower the price so I don’t have to only buy this winter watermelon on special occasions.

6.99 NIS a Kilo

Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own