On the train into San Francisco last week, I noticed some cactus growing along the fences with brilliant purple fruits perched on the end of each thorny arm. It wasn't until I saw baskets of this same fruit at the market over the weekend that I realized what I'd seen: prickly pears! Have you ever made anything with this fruit?
Also called cactus pear or tuna, prickly pears are roughly fist-sized, oblong fruits that can range in color from the deepest purple-magenta to light green. I've heard that the deeper the color, the sweeter the fruit. The flavor is hard to describe. It reminds me a bit of quince: frutti-tutti sweet and lightly floral.
The inner fruit can be eaten on its own, but is fantastic made into jelly or infused into sugar syrup for sodas and cocktails. The whole fruit can also be juiced, and the juice used in cocktails, frozen paletas, whisked into vinaigrettes, or just sipped all on its own.
The prickly pears you buy in stores usually have had all their thorns removed, but you still need to peel away the tough outer skin before eating. If you have the opportunity to forage prickly pears, be sure to wear thick gloves when picking and handling the fruits. To remove the thorns, soak the prickly pears in cold water or flame the outside with a lighter or over the gas flames on your stove.
Do you have any favorite things to make with prickly pears?
Related: Recipe: Grilled Cactus and Corn Salad
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Prickly Pear Lemonade! I was amazed and pleased to find prickly pears in IGAs (Caputo's & EuroFresh) in my suburb NW of Chicago. Haven't looked recently, don't know their season.
The 2 sites that I referenced to make the PP-lemonade are:
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_cut_and_prepare_prickly_pears/
and
http://www.tucsoncactus.org/pdf_files/recipe-prickly%20pear%20harvest-process%20and%20punch.pdf
Ah so you can eat them. I saw these on holiday in Greece this summer and was wondering if they were edible and if so what you make with them. Now I know! Pretty sure I wouldn't find them in England though!
I made a batch of jam with them one year. The jam was good, and a beautiful color, but it stained everything it touched in my kitchen so badly that it looked like I'd murdered someone for several weeks after.
You can make agua fresca with it.
I love prickly pear jelly candy and drinks made from it! There's a juice bar in my neighborhood that sometimes has prickly pear juice blends.
The best use of prickly pear I've come across recently was in a margarita - a new-ish restaurant near me has one with prickly pear juice and serrano pepper. It's bright pink and has a nice spicy kick to it.
We had prickly pear gelato at my workplace in the summer. It was divine!
I love prickly pears and eat them whenever I can find them, but warning, don't eat *a lot* of them at any one time, they can be a bit, ahem.... constipating.
I live in Arizona, but I never harvest the fruits (they are everywhere), because of the glochids. They are tiny and awful. You will ruin whatever pair of gloves you wear, so wear some cheap ones!
I live in Mexico, so I'm very lucky to be able to eat prickly pears (called "tunas" in Spanish) all the time! :) Each color prickly pear (they come in purple, green, and yellowish-orange) has their own distinct flavor. I love to eat the green ones plain or in agua fresca. The orange ones are awesome with a squeeze of lime juice and powdered chile. But my favorite way to eat the purple prickly pears is in a very spicy pico de gallo made with chopped onion, tomato, habanero or chile de arbol, cucumber, mango, and oranges! :)