Prickly pear cactus

 

Prickly pear fruit (also called “apple” or “tuna”) really is a food.  It’s tricky to handle.  There are sharp spines, which are obvious, but there are also thin soft spines that will torment the unwary.  Heavy gloves are required for handling until the skins have been rubbed smooth.

 

Native Americans traditionally eat them whole (after preparation).  They can be squeezed for juice, or used to flavor drinks, or as jams and jellies, or even as salad dressing.  They taste like sweet watermelon (even though they look like radishes to everybody).

 

How do you cut and prepare prickly pear cactus fruit?  I got directions from the internet:  (You don’t want to just knock off the sharp spines then peel them with your teeth.  You can ask our son Matt how that works out.)

 

1 Slice both ends of the prickly pear off. Discard them.

2 Make one long vertical slice down the body of the prickly pear.

3 Slip your finger into the slice and grab a hold of the skin.

4 Begin to peel back the thick fleshy skin that's wrapped around the prickly pear.  Discard the skin. You'll be left with the prickly pear itself.

 

The flesh is studded with tons of little edible seeds, if you like them, feel free to just chop the prickly pear up and eat, seeds and all.

 

To extract the juice, place the "husked" prickly pears into a blender or food processor and pulse until liquefied. Place the juice into a fine mesh sieve and push out the juice into a pitcher or bowl. Discard the remaining pulp and seeds.

 

Use the juice as you like. Depending on the size of the prickly pears, 6 to 12 prickly pears will get you about 1 cup of juice. It's great mixed in with some fresh lemonade, just use equal parts of prickly pear juice to lemonade.

 

It sounds like a lot of work for small reward, but I guess in a desert environment, you take what treats you can get.  (You can also eat the pads.)