Cactus dishes?

[Polly]

When I was in Marbella in March, I noticed many broad-pad (leaf) cactus plants growing on the hillsides, which looked quite a lot like the Mexican Nopale plant.
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I eat Nopales quite often (we can get them fresh or sliced and pickled in jars) - generally scrambled in eggs or as a side dish, with roasted peppers. They're quite fleshy, tasty, and nutritious! I was wondering whether there is any use of the similar cactus plants in Spanish cuisine?

[Marina]

Amazing!!!
We have lots of cactus in Spain, but I never seen anyone eating it.
Does it taste good? Does it taste remind you of something else?

[Polly]

I'm surprised! With all the varieties of cactus to be found in Spain - and no one is eating them? ¡Increíble! They're delicious!

Of course, you must have had alcachofa (artichoke), yes? That is from the thistle -- a relative of the cactus.

Nopales come from the prickly pear cactus.
I can only describe the prepared nopales as having the consistancy of a succulent and tender (cooked) asparagus - without the stringy texture. More meaty and more mucilaginous. Think of the áloe
plant, and how that looks when you break off the stem -- only áloe
is very bitter to the taste. The flavor of nopales is very mild, and only slightly tart.

We eat them in salads, scrambled in eggs, in soup, and together with cold camarón (shrimp) and avacado.

My ex mother-in-law also used to make jelly and candies from nopales.

[Brian]

I have some friends from Monterrey, Mexico, who quite enjoy making a salsa from cactus. I guess you can make salsa from just about anything, eh?

[Polly]

Never had cactus salsa, but I can see where it could be used!

the Agave cactus (grown in Oaxaca, Mexico) is used for making Mescal (tequilia) -- the original spirit with the worm in the bottom of the bottle (the mescal worm lives in the agave plant)


Of course there is also peyote cactus which is a big hallucinogenic -
but

[Brian]

Ahh, that's right! How could I have forgotten that! Tequila certainly is peculiar in flavour and taste, wholly unlike any other liquor that I've sampled.

[greytop]

I´ve eaten the ripe prickly pear fruits a few times. Just cut open and spoon the fleshy part out. I like them but not to everyones taste - and they need careful handling as they have sharp spikes. Once established they seem to take over bits of the countryside, usually on a bit of hill not used for anything else.
We don´t see them in the shops though but then we don´t see many oranges in the shops here as everyone has their own supply!

[Edith]

I´ve eaten the ripe prickly pear fruits a few times. Just cut open and spoon the fleshy part out. I like them but not to everyones taste - and they need careful handling as they have sharp spikes. Once established they seem to take over bits of the countryside, usually on a bit of hill not used for anything else.
We don´t see them in the shops though but then we don´t see many oranges in the shops here as everyone has their own supply!

Prickly pears are quite tasty, and they are even available here in Holland in some of the Turkish and Moroccan grocery stores. In Arizona I tried prickly pear and saguaro fruit jelly, a traditional Native American delicacy. Delicious and very sweet.


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