Eating Cactus

[panch0]

These are the ones though it doesn't say which nopal its from. I dont think it is the prickley pear cactus that she cooked up. I see those every day and they have a thicker plank. These are thinner and a darker green.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nopalitos

[Rick]

Nopal?

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[panch0]

OOps I meant cactus. I am from South Texas and we got our own dialect down here known as Tex-Mex. We mix spanish and english and even have hybrid words like trocka with means truck. That is not a real spanish word but we know what it means around these parts.

[Ole WV Coot]

Sounds like something I would like to try. Okra I like, fried mostly. Sounds good and comes with its own toothpicks, now I gotta drive down the road and look for a fresh possum.

[canid]

if you'd read the posts of others, you'd see that i've already answered that.

[panch0]

Missed it, oops my bad. Its the ADD acting up again. Hehehe..

[canid]

i hear you there. sorry if i was gruff; was cranky earlier in general.

[erunkiswldrnssurvival]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZOT9TTylg8 this is a video of using cactus fruit for food, a cousin of the prickly pear the planks are edible too when roasted, i remove the spines with a fish filet knife just slice along the surface. the fiberous strings arent too palateable so cooking and scrapeing the soft flesh is recomended. the cactus is very much like a green bell pepper.

[your_comforting_company]

I couldn't help but revive this post. I was driving to work yesterday and noticed on the edge of a field about half a dozen or so prickly pear cacti. I picked a few fruits from each plant.

texture is like that of cantaloupe (sp) but the taste was similar to dewberry. Of course I got my hands full of prickles but for something so delicious it was worth it!

I just have one question. How do you get the seeds out without wasting any of the pulp (or is it okay to just swallow the seeds and not worry about it?)? these things are worse than watermelons when you get into the pit. I didnt mind the prickles as much as i did the seeds.

Funny thing is, my grandmother has always had one growing in her yard and I never paid any attention to the fruits being edible. It wasn't until I read about it that it even occurred to me as a possibility to eat cacti. She said her sister has always eaten them and rooted her own so she would have some to eat without having to drive all the way down here. She makes jams and jellies and pies and as soon as I can get hold of her (they are on vacation atm) I'm gonna try to get some recipes to post up for you guys.

[Rick]

You can eat those? I had prickly pear growing in my yard until about 2 years ago. Got tired of it and got rid of them. Sheesh!! You're talking about the red fruit, right? By the way, if I walked within 3 feet of those da**ed things I'd have those little splinters all over me. They hurt like heck and are a pain (pun intended) to get out!! The ones we had didn't have big stickers like in the picture. Ours had tiny little hair like stickers.

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[crashdive123]

I couldn't help but revive this post. I was driving to work yesterday and noticed on the edge of a field about half a dozen or so prickly pear cacti. I picked a few fruits from each plant.

texture is like that of cantaloupe (sp) but the taste was similar to dewberry. Of course I got my hands full of prickles but for something so delicious it was worth it!

I just have one question. How do you get the seeds out without wasting any of the pulp (or is it okay to just swallow the seeds and not worry about it?)? these things are worse than watermelons when you get into the pit. I didnt mind the prickles as much as i did the seeds.

Funny thing is, my grandmother has always had one growing in her yard and I never paid any attention to the fruits being edible. It wasn't until I read about it that it even occurred to me as a possibility to eat cacti. She said her sister has always eaten them and rooted her own so she would have some to eat without having to drive all the way down here. She makes jams and jellies and pies and as soon as I can get hold of her (they are on vacation atm) I'm gonna try to get some recipes to post up for you guys.

You can grind up the dried seeds and use them as flour, or a thickener for soups.

[your_comforting_company]

Rick
Yep. the ones we have have tiny little needles in tight bunches all over. the long needles are only on the biggest parts of the plant. And yes! you can eat them they are delicious. try some next time you spot some but wear gloves. I spent quite a while (after working all day with them in my hands) getting the stickers out

Crashdive
The question was how to get the seeds out without losing the fruit, and is it okay to eat the seeds whole as they are in the fruit. I do remember reading about the flour and am excited to try it since i've found an abundant supply of ripened fruit along the roadside. seems to me you will either lose the pulp to get the seeds, or lose the seeds to eat the pulp. I wanna try to use both! I can eat the fruit and spit the seeds into a bowl i suppose haha.

thanks for the inputs guys

[crashdive123]

Rick
Yep. the ones we have have tiny little needles in tight bunches all over. the long needles are only on the biggest parts of the plant. And yes! you can eat them they are delicious. try some next time you spot some but wear gloves. I spent quite a while (after working all day with them in my hands) getting the stickers out

Crashdive
The question was how to get the seeds out without losing the fruit, and is it okay to eat the seeds whole as they are in the fruit. I do remember reading about the flour and am excited to try it since i've found an abundant supply of ripened fruit along the roadside. seems to me you will either lose the pulp to get the seeds, or lose the seeds to eat the pulp. I wanna try to use both! I can eat the fruit and spit the seeds into a bowl i suppose haha.

thanks for the inputs guys

I am not going on first hand experience - yet. I do have a small patch staked out waiting on the fruit to ripen though. From what I understand - pick fruit wearing gloves, remove spines from fruit with a wet cloth, slice and pick out seeds. As I said, still waiting on them to ripen - I'll let you know how the theory to practice works.

[crashdive123]

Here's the link to the Forage database section with some info on it. http://www.wildcrafting.net/forage/plant/153/

[your_comforting_company]

just an update... since the post, I've eaten a few more pears with friends, and swallowing the seeds wont hurt you. at least it didnt hurt any of us.

and the ones I spotted on the road are getting ready. mmm mmm good!
(my great aunt has yet to send me any recipes but will keep u guys posted)

[panch0]

We eat the seeds. my wife's grandfather and uncles have acres upon acre in mexico of pear cactus that they harvest and sell. They just eat the seeds since it is to hard to remove. They have been doing this for at least 50 yrs and they have not had a cactus grow in them yet. Hehehe....

[Rick]

Then what's those stickers that have to be cut off each morning?

[panch0]

That call my prickley pear fuzz.

[crashdive123]

We eat the seeds. my wife's grandfather and uncles have acres upon acre in mexico of pear cactus that they harvest and sell. They just eat the seeds since it is to hard to remove. They have been doing this for at least 50 yrs and they have not had a cactus grow in them yet. Hehehe....

This also has great medicinal implications. Prevents hemorrhoids.

[Durtyoleman]

Tried prickley pear fried once...was kinda bitter but if hungry i suppose i could deal with it. When doin landscapin' i got to hate thorns on any plant. Now I plant anything edible with thorns cause it alerts me to thieves and tresspassers...LOL
Just try to plant it on the outskirts and away from the garden.

D.O.M.