Honeydew melon jelly with raw ham

Before beginning the story and to propose you the recipe I desire to make a short linguistic aside. In Italian "honeydew melon" it is said "melon", instead in Sicilian "mellone." Out of the Trinacria people shiver earing the double consonant in that word but, detaining to reflect me on the diction, I have realized that the sound of the headword becomes full, the tongue, in the pronunciation of the double “l”, de facto, is sharpened on the palate tickling it and prefiguring the sweet taste of the fruit that actually reigns on the Sicilian tables since the end of August to January.

But banishing to the “lexical gossips”... A dear friend, some time ago, told me: But why do you not create any recipe with the white melon, the fruit of this season? I answered him that already something I had in my mind and I would have wanted to experiment it as soon as possible.

The occasion happened after a little time, when the owners of a place of Menfi asked me to organize a culinary evening. The small center, located between the territories of Trapani and Agrigento, is famous for its meaningful vine and wine production and for its tract few contaminated from the cement, with the sweet hills covered by vineyards and olive trees  that decline to the sea, so much enchanting to have deserved in the last years the denomination Menfishire.

After having thought of that for a few days and to be compares me both mine "prompter" and with other dear friends gourmets, I have elaborated a menù in which one of the hors d’oeuvre have seen how protagonist exactly the sweet yellow fruit. I have in fact realized a revisitation of the classical appetizer "melon and ham" proposing the fruit in a "jelly” version.

I served it as appetizer but, naturally, eliminating the sausage can be eats as dessert at the end of meal or in any other moment of the day.

Here is the recipe, similar in the ingredients and in the realization to the most known gelo di mellone (watermelon jelly).

Ingredients (for 8 persons): 1 honeydew melon; 100 g. of caster sugar; 70 g. of wheat starch or cornstarch; 50 g. of ground pistachios; some leafs of peppermint; 16 slices of raw ham.

Procedure: Halve the “mellone”, remove the seeds and cut into wedges. Peel and blend the pulp. Sift the juice. You have to obtain 1 liter of juice.

Pour it in a pot and add the sugar. Melt the starch in a sew quantity of juice and then put in the pot with other ingredients and stir.

Cook the mixture on moderate flame since it will be firm. You do it around in half an hour. Before take out the pot of heat, you must add the peppermint leafs and half of pistachios.

Pour the “jelly” in 4 small cups (it’s good those disposable too) wetting with water. This avoids that the gelatin solidifying sticks to the walls of your cups. Leave to cool and replace in refrigerator for one day.

Garnish with the pistachios remains and serve accompanied with “little roses” of raw ham.

Consigli: I sommelier sicuramente consiglierebbero un vino rosato o un rosso giovane vista la presenza del prosciutto, io invece abbinerei un buon bianco acido e fresco, con profumi di melone bianco maturo e di pesca bianca come il Grecanico, magari proprio di qualche cantina menfitana.

Suggestions: I am sure that the sommeliers would recommend a rosé or a young red wine for the presence of the ham. I would combine instead a good sour and fresh white, with perfumes of mature white melon and white peach as the Grecanico, even really of some wine cellar of Menfi.