Every day during the summer, at 6:56 am and 8:43 am, Marion Sauveur gives you an idea of ​​a recipe to brighten up your taste buds.

Every day, Marion Sauveur makes us rediscover the products of our beautiful land.

We start the week with a summer staple: melon.

Juicy and sweet, that's how we like it!

We are in the middle of the season for this vegetable which grows on a creeper crawling along the ground.

It belongs to the cucurbits family, like squash and zucchini, and which is eaten like a fruit.  

He is said to be from Africa.

One thing is certain, it was cultivated in ancient Egypt.

The Greeks and Romans tasted it salt and pepper and even vinegar.

Its culture developed strongly in France in the 16th century, particularly in the South-East.

It was not until the 17th century that Anjou and Touraine produced it for the Court, before the Charente.

Melon from Quercy, melon from Haut-Poitou and melon from Guadeloupe have a Protected Indication of Origin.

It guarantees that it is well cultivated on this soil and a quality fruit.

To choose a good melon look at its stalk, it must be cracked.

And weigh it: the heavier it is, the more sugar it contains.

It must smell good but not too strong, otherwise it may be overripe.

How to cook melon?

Grilled for a change.

We start by preparing a marinade based on thyme, lime, melted butter, honey and Sichuan pepper.

This pepper will bring citrus notes.

Leave the melon cut into thin strips to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.

Then you have to grill the melon on the barbecue.

It can be served as a starter, with a little feta.

If it's for dessert, with lemon sorbet or vanilla ice cream.

A chef's trick.

Today, it's Baptiste Renouard from the Ocher restaurant in Rueil-Malmaison, in the Paris region. 

"You cut into small cubes or slices, the finer it will be the taste of the marinade. You put the juice you want or a simple syrup, with 1 liter of water and 300 g of sugar. There, you put what you want to flavor your marinade: a little bit of mint, olive oil, curry or turmeric. All night long, a good 12 hours ".

It only remains to taste with a scoop of ice cream.

In his restaurant Ocher, the starred chef Baptiste Renouard offers melon balls marinated in the white martini which will bring a spicy side.

They are embellished with a thin lemon jelly with vanilla and an oat milk-lavender emulsion.

A second address to taste a melon dish?

In Paris at the Byzantine caterer Pich Pich.

Chef Julie Sadaka offers a melon salad, garnished with feta, chili olive oil, a little chopped mint for freshness and some roasted squash seeds.

RECIPE

Ingredients

- 1 melon

- 1 lime

- 3 sprigs of thyme-lemon

- 10g of butter

- 2 tablespoons of honey

- Sichuan pepper

We start by preparing a marinade based on thyme, lime, melted butter, honey and Sichuan pepper.

This pepper will bring citrus notes.

Leave the melon cut into thin strips to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.

We grill the melon on the barbecue, previously drained.

As a starter, it can be served with a little feta.

For dessert, it goes very well with lemon sorbet or vanilla ice cream.