Chonko

Chonko is a traditional sweet dessert made from Chondothan melons. It is traditional delicacy only available at the city of Chondo and is well known across the region, it is considered a must-try for visitors to Chondo and well liked by the local population, especially children.
== Preparation ==
The main ingredient of Chonko is Chondothan melons, well known for its sweetness. A Chondothan melon is split in half and some of the middle portion is scooped out. The hollow middle portion is filled with crushed ice. The scooped out portion is crushed and turned into a sweet juice and then mixed with sugar to form a syrup. The syrup is poured over the crushed ice to add flavour. The other half of the melon can be saved for later, or can be similarly prepared to serve two.
Traditionally, ice is only available from the peaks of the caldera around Chondo. The journey up the craggy slopes of the caldera is long and dangerous. Upon reaching the peaks, ice is split and crushed using a pickaxe. In order to ensure the ice does not melt, volcanic salts from the caldera is added to the crushed ice and mixed. Volcanic salts also act as the secret ingredient in Chonko, giving it a sweet and salty taste when mixed with Chondothan melon syrup.
== Offshoots ==
Traditional Chonko can only be found in Chondo due to preparation process. Chondothan volcanic salts are unique to the region and found only within the caldera. There have been offshoots made in other regions using regular salt and ice from other sources but most, if not all agree that Chonko from Chondo is superior.