While the table is empty, a long board off to the side has been laid with at least twenty dishes. A young man, an Avox, stands at attention by the spread. When I ask if I can serve myself, he nods assent. I load a plate with eggs, sausages, batter cakes covered in thick orange preserves, slices of pale purple melon.
Page 87, The Hunger Games
As far as I can tell, this is the only piece of food that Suzanne Collins mentions in the book that doesn’t actually exist, so I had to improvise and try to make my own. The obvious way to do it was… to simply dye slices of melon purple. The result, while looking like how I wanted it to, had one unfortunate side effect: it tastes absolutely disgusting!
I am dead serious, people. Casaba melon soaked in red/blue food coloring makes the melon pretty much uneatable. If you make this for a Hunger Games themed party, be sure you make a big sign next to the plate saying, “DO NOT EAT, DISPLAY ONLY!”
But other than that, looks pretty cool huh? 😀 It’s very very delicate, so you have to handle with extreme care.
Another note: honeydew melon doesn’t work for this. You need a totally white flesh melon.