A cantaloupe is a type of melon with sweet orange flesh and a tan, netted rind that looks like it's covered in a pattern of tiny cracks. When you cut one open, you'll find a hollow center filled with slippery seeds surrounded by juicy, fragrant fruit.

Cantaloupes grow on vines close to the ground, and farmers know they're ripe when the fruit separates easily from the stem and smells sweet at one end. A ripe cantaloupe should feel heavy for its size and give slightly when you press on it. The flesh tastes sweet and refreshing, especially on a hot summer day.

Americans often call any orange-fleshed melon with netted skin a cantaloupe, though what we usually eat is technically called a muskmelon. True cantaloupes, common in Europe, have skin that looks different from the netted pattern.

Cantaloupes are packed with vitamins, particularly vitamin A, which gives the flesh its orange color. When someone describes a cantaloupe as perfectly ripe, they mean it's reached that ideal moment when it's sweet, juicy, and flavorful, not too hard and not too mushy.