Cantaloupe and Parma Ham

If I were to name an appetizer that I would like to have as part of my last meal on Earth, my choice for now would be this beautiful plate of Cantaloupe with Parma Ham. 

I can't remember when was the first time I tried this starter, but I suspect it was as far back as 1998 in Genoa, Italy. I was on a business trip with my then-CEO and our Italian colleague took us to all the gorgeous places to eat. 

To me, this is a perfect marriage of two delightful ingredients. The delicately salty and wafer thin parma ham pairs so incredibly well with the sweet flesh of the cantaloupe (also known as rock melon). 

And for those who are health conscious, you get consolation from the fact that the cantaloupe is one of the fruits with the highest nutritional value and the Vitamin C in it helps to neutralise the negative effect of the nitrates used in curing the parma ham. 

The picture above was taken some time ago at my home when E made a lovely dinner with this as the starter. It was accompanied by a salad of rocket, red pepper and onions at my request. The main dish was a rich homemade fettucine carbonara that tasted so divinely luxurious on the palate. After a glass of dry white, I threw all caution to the wind and indulged in a huge slice of homemade tiramisu. E politely declined so he could finish the entire bottle of white. 

Ahhh... such bliss....