Mantua: melons and watermelons

There is a cycle path which starts from Verona and arrives in Tuscany, through Lombardy! What about a long bike slow tour through the north of Italy the next summer?

You could have a tasty stop in the surroundings of Mantua, a land famous for its delicious melons and watermelons!

Smell and taste the different kinds, a great food experience!

 

⇒ Watch the full web serie Mantua Slow Tour

Main pic courtesy of GiuliaDuePuntoZero (Flickr user @halighalie)

 

Video full text: Mantova, Melons & Watermelons

Excuse me, you look like a serious cyclist
can you give me a hand here? I can’t figure it out.
What’s your name? Erminio.
Listen, we are here in Commessaggio, I have to go to Sabbioneta.
Now, I know there’s this whole Mantua-Sabbioneta cycle path
It is very long, it starts from Verona and arrives in Tuscany.
You will get lost!
You are famous for melons here
Is there a melon farm around?
Along the cycle route is Mr Rossi, who has melons and watermelons. Delicious.
The famous melons of Mr Rossi.
Which way do we go? This way.
Oh, wow!
This is the honeymoon, a kind of melon with a smooth skin
See that it has neither meridians or the usual netting.
Sweet? Very sweet. Good.
Here you have as much water as you want.
Then there is that summer heat that ripens them,
but the key element is the soil.
How should the earth be to produce good melons
The soil needs to be fresh, very clayey, because it retains moisture longer.
Then we see this variety, IGP
IGP means protected geographical indication
It identifies melons produced in the province of Mantua.
How nice to be a taster! First you feel important and second you enjoy it.
I love it, it’s fresh
This is called honeysweet
Oh! But this one is red.
They are called pigmented. Selected varieties that are red.
A little sourer, I think. More aromatic.
I could go on until night eating a slice of this, a slice of another and saying which is the best:
I’m a little better prepared with watermelons.
There are the local ones and the American ones, right?
This round one is a classic local one
the American one is more oblong
I wouldn’t want to take advantage, of course, but for scientific reasons
I know that I cannot not taste the watermelon!
I reckon it will sing, smile and give off a fragrance when you open it.
This is the heart. It’s authentic…
Smell it.
Let’s take a photo: Giorgio, me and the watermelon
Smile! The watermelon too!