Christophe Bachmann wrote:[i]
> Jean B. a écrit :
>>
>> I deleted a previous post, which would explain my melon comment. I
>> have seen citron referred to as a melon in old books, and it obviously
>> isn't one!
>>
> Perhaps this note taken from :
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watermelon
> can help.
>
> n the Kalahari desert, the ancestral melon grows wild and is known as
> the Tsamma melon (Citrullus lanatus var tastius). It is also known in
> Zimbabwe as 'nwiwa, mwiwa or iswe'. The flesh is similar to the rind of
> a watermelon and is often known as citron melon (distinct from the
> actual citron, of the citrus family); It has established itself in the
> wild in Baja California.
>
> And :
> Watermelon rinds are also edible, and sometimes used as a vegetable.
> Pickled watermelon rind is also commonly consumed in the Southern US.
>
> When one knows that citron is one of the most widely used candied peel
> fruits, confusion is not completely excluded, but I still don't see
> exactly how.

This would have been in old US cookbooks, so I doubt they would
have been alluding to a melon from the Kalahari desert. The only
reason this mention of it being a melon stuck in my mind was that
it struck me as so odd--and it is obviously wrong.

I was out book-hunting today, but maybe tomorrow or the next day I
can look in a few books here.

--
Jean B.