Welcome summer with sweet chilled melon

Yes, folks, it's official: We're heading into those precious few months we call melon season. Other produce at farmers' markets will soon be dwarfed by the presence of watermelons, cantaloupes, casabas, canaries, ogens, crenshaws and honeydews. So many melons, so little time.

Speaking of time, 2010's melon harvest is on the late side because of Northern California's relatively cold spring and early summer. Grower Cliff Hamada of Hamada Farms in Kingsburg (Fresno County) estimates that the height of melon season has been delayed by two to three weeks.

Typically, melons ripen by the end of June, with crops flourishing until October. This year, however, Hamada expects that the best of the season's melons are on the horizon, coming into markets in the next couple of weeks, with peak flavor rearing its head (or, dare I say, melon) in August.

Not only are melons refreshing, but they're also a low-calorie snack packed with potassium and vitamins A and C.

How to select: When it comes to choosing watermelon, Peter Cipponeri of Cipponeri Family Farms in Turlock (Stanislaus County) suggests avoiding vanity.

Don't rule out melons with slight stretch marks and shallow stress cracks in the skin. "The ugliest melons are often the sweetest," Cipponeri says.

You'll also want to choose a watermelon that feels heavy for its size and sounds solid when tapped with your knuckles. A hollow-sounding watermelon indicates over-ripeness or low water content.

As for cantaloupes, your nose knows best: Choose one that smells sweet and slightly musky, with firm skin and a stem end with just a bit of softness.

Honeydew melons should be chosen by aroma. The skin should be firm and have few blemishes, with a sweet-smelling stem end.

Ogens are yellowish-orange softball-size melons with green stripes on the outside and pale green flesh inside. They give off a floral scent when ripe. The flesh is known for its delicate, honeyed flavor.

Bright yellow and oblong, canary melons boast a unique semisweet taste. Canaries should have smooth skin, feel heavy for their size, and display few blemishes.

Casaba melons are ripe when their stem end gives slightly, and their vivid yellow ridged skin has little green remaining. The creamy white, semisweet flesh of casabas typically ripens slightly later than other varietals, peaking in October.

How to store: To allow your melons to further ripen at home, keep them at room temperature, away from extreme light or heat. To slow the ripening process, place whole melons in the refrigerator. Depending on how ripe melons are when purchased, as well as storage conditions, uncut melons may last anywhere from several days to two weeks. Cut melon should be kept in an air-tight container in the refrigerator, and will last only a few days.

How to use: Scrub the outside of melons thoroughly before slicing. Nothing beats an unadorned slice of melon, ripened to maximum sweetness and slightly chilled. Some people prefer to serve melon at room temperature with a tiny pinch of salt, pepper or squeeze of citrus. It's also easy to puree melon for refreshing soups and smoothies, churn it into sorbets, freeze it into granitas, caramelize it on the grill, infuse it into fruit cocktails, or chop it into fruit salsas to top fish or chicken.

Britt Billmaier is a student at the California Culinary Academy. E-mail her at food@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page K - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle