Melão da Vilariça

Description: Oblong-shaped fruit, with rough skin and greenish-yellow color, with salmon-colored pulp. Melão da Vilariça is obtained from the Casca de Carvalho cultivar, known in the region as Carrasco. Its aroma is very active, the taste pleasant and sweet.

Region: North.

Special feature: Extremely aromatic fruit that sometimes reaches a weight of 5 kg.

History: In the description present in the Memory of the News that the King Our Lord orders to be given to the Royal Academy of Portuguese History, the Chamber of this Village of Torre de Memcorvo and places of its term (1721) it is stated: «... and for the treat the excellent melons from Vilariça». Canon Marrana also describes old festivities in which the fruit section was filled with melon and watermelon from Vilariça, which came there for loads and trucks, being deposited behind and on the right side of the Chapel». In a Dictionary of all the cities Villas and Parishes of Portugal, published in 1885, there is the following mention of this fruit: «... being continuous the carts of bread, wine, chestnuts, melons, cherries, grapes and other fruits of the time».

Use: Consumed as a starter, dessert or even as a refresher, in the evening.

Know-how: Traditionally, two to three tills were made of the soil, the last one being accompanied by harrowing. The first was done in January/February, the second in March and the third in April. The sowing was done with the seeds of the best specimens of the previous year, with the characteristics valued being size, sweetness and aroma. The seeds were dried in the sun for the first few days and then finished drying in the shade. For sowing, beds with a width of 10 m and variable length (depending on the arable land) were marked. In these beds, wells of 2 m were opened at intervals and, in each one, 10 to 12 seeds were introduced. After germination and when the plant was 10 to 15 cm, it was thinned so that only 3 to 4 plants remained. Fertilization was not practiced because the periodic flooding of the river dragged debris considered sufficient for fertilization. Given the sensitivity of the plant to weeds, two hoes were practiced, one when the plant had a palm and the other (called razamento) when the stems were from 0,50 to 1 m. Two waterings were made and, exceptionally, a third, if the weather was excessively dry. The harvest began on August 15 and lasted until September.

Source: Produtos Tradicionais Portugueses, Lisboa, DGDR, 2001