So moving from San Francisco, California to South County, Rhode Island is a little like moving from a whorehouse into a nunnery. At least you can buy booze on Sunday now. Old memories are everywhere to gently haunt me. Somewhere, in passing, I caught the scent of someone's cucumber-melon perfumey spray and was immediately reminded of my high school girlfriend who used to burn through gallons of the stuff. Needless to say, the relationship didn't last, and the olfactory-induced memory incident did make me cringe a little bit. The combination of cucumber and melon however, stuck with me, as I gathered ingredients at the store I was thankful for the small lightning bolt of inspiration I had been given.
The resulting salad is a melange of cucumber & cantaloupe, with feta, red onion, mint, and green olive. A little sesame oil seals the deal. It reminds me a little bit of a late-summer salad that I had at Tyler Florence's place, The Wayfare Tavern, in San Francisco. There, it was ripe peaches, shaved fennel, red onion, feta, and olive. Unassuming, but for me a stand-out dish.
