TOKYO, July 12 — Is it a melon? Is it a lemon? Borrowing from both, the lemon melon is a brand-new hybrid fruit that has been developed by Japanese researchers. But while this cross-breed may sound like a surprising concept, it’s the price tag that’s particularly striking, because this fruit is not within everyone’s reach.

Melons are synonymous with summer. Whether as an appetizer, accompanied by a slice of cured ham, as a dessert in its simplest form, or even as a sorbet, this fruity flavor is often associated with the lazy days of summer vacations, fading with the transition into fall.

But this year, how about putting a new kind of melon on the menu? The lemon melon sounds like a surprising combination. And yet, it exists in Japan, where researchers on the island of Hokkaido, in the very north of the archipelago, took five years to develop this hybrid variety. This process gave rise to a fruit with a white flesh that has a slightly tangy, lemony taste, while retaining a certain sweetness that pleases the taste buds. Visually, the lemon melon has a smooth, watermelon-like skin of a yellow-green hue.

The fruit was launched at the end of June by the horticultural branch of the Japanese giant Suntory, known the world over for its whiskeys and gins. Japan’s passion for citrus fruit is no secret. The archipelago grows over a hundred citrus fruits, and many Japanese prefectures have their own varieties.

In fact, more surprising than the arrival of yet another citrus-flavored fruit, is the creation’s price tag! Lemon melon production is very limited, which inevitably pushes its price up. Expect to pay over ¥3,200 (RM107), or around US$23 a piece. Even more unexpectedly, stocks are already sold out in many Japanese department stores, according to Suntory Flowers.

So, after the yuzu, the sudachi and the Buddha’s hand, will the lemon melon become the latest must-have Japanese ingredient for chefs? — ETX Studio