Of Curacao Cantaloupe and rum

Brand and product development exercises for (alcoholic) beverages is one of our strong suits. So, I have taken to collecting cook books published by Caribbean producers of different liquor and have developed some recipes of my own as a result.

Curacao Cantaloupe

1. Peel a cantaloupe (melon) and cut it in wedges of 2-3 centimeters thick. You can use other fruit, especially those that are not tasty enough on their own.
2. Make a thick syrup of equal parts of sugar and water. This means you would have to heat up the two
3. Throw in the cantaloupe wedges and boil for a few minutes until the fruit is softened somewhat
4. When the mixture is cool enough to handle, divide the wedges in sterilized (previously used) glass jars and fill up to 2/3 with the syrup
5. Fill to the top with orange Curacao liqueur, preferably the authentic one
6. Serve at room temperature with your best local ice cream
   

The recipe above is adapted from Edward Bottone’s Spirit of Bermuda (cooking with Gosling’s Black Seal Rum). It is absolutely delicious. I also have a love-hate relationship with the matter because cantaloupes are the one vine in my (organic) garden that lizards absolutely will not leave alone.

Colorful tropical fruit steeped in rum also makes for a nice gift, drink and fruit. Red hot peppers in rum makes for a nice hot gift. Both ideas are from Steven Raichlin’s The Caribbean Pantry Cookbook.