Note: We
didn’t buy this melon. It was given to us.
I’ve always
wanted to know what a twenty-plus-dollar melon tasted like. Did it have the
taste that only the elite could experience? Maybe, a pearl or some kind of gem
was hidden inside. Maybe, the juice from this melon was considered the nectar
of the gods? I was salivating at just thinking about the possibilities. Here’s
what I discovered.
The melon looked like any other melon. The melon tasted like…brace yourself…any other melon. So, what made this melon so special as to deserve the high price tag? Before I answer that question, here’s a hint. The name of this melon is “High Class.” Umm, whatever. Give up? It’s the box! For crying out loud, the box comes with its own handle. Now honestly, wouldn’t you pay a few extra bucks for a nice box? George
B.T.W. Melons that cost over $100 exist. I wonder...
I always find it interesting that when they do blindfold taste tests of 200 yen melon and 20,000 yen melon on those stupid TV shows here that over half the people say the 200 yen melon tasted better..... it is definitely the box!
ReplyDeleteI have a suspicion that the expensive melons are kind of like the rides at Disney Land. If you queue for two hours for a four minute ride, you're going to tell everyone it was the best ride ever because otherwise you'd have to admit to yourself that you just wasted a day for something that was pretty "meh"~ so you tell everyone how amazing it was, then they want to experience it for themselves, so they queue for two hours, and so the cycle continues!
ReplyDeleteAs it was explained to me by a Japanese friend, those $20-$100 melons are carefully cultivated and selected for their uniformity and lack of external imperfections, as well as being colorfully packaged.
ReplyDeleteIn short: they're intended as symbolic gift items in the Japanese gifting tradition, which places special value on artful aesthetics and price. Their eating value is entirely secondary.