noshing

At first it sounds pointless — dried cantaloupe? Sans juice, what’s left but seeds and a rind? One nibble from a six-ounce tub of Fastachi dried cantaloupe ($4.69), though, and it all makes sense. Concentrated, the melon flesh goes from succulent to downright tangy, while its almost milky sweetness grows bold. True, the yellow-orange spears contain added sugar, as well as sulfur dioxide for color: health nuts, beware. But for those of us who don’t savor the shrunken ears that pass for organic dried fruit, this stuff’s a real find. And there’s plenty more where it came from: Fastachi offers an impressive variety of such luxe curiosities, from dried sour plums (a far cry from prunes, they’re tart and taut rather than chewy) and glazed kiwi to mint lentils and tiramisu caramels. They also sell all manner of roasted nuts and seeds, including filberts, red-skin peanuts, and — of course — melon seeds. Hey, why not candy the rind?