Cactus Sorbet

fx

Thu, 10 Mar 2016 12:00:38 GMT

Ah well then the fruit did not die in vain if he managed to spread its seed!

fx

Thu, 10 Mar 2016 11:54:29 GMT

Maddie you can certainly omit it!

fx

Sat, 5 Mar 2016 20:31:14 GMT

Good tip, thanks!

Mpog

Tue, 2 Oct 2012 01:53:54 GMT

does the alcohol affect the sorbet in any way or can I not include it for the young ones in my house?

Deanna Figueroa

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 08:57:41 GMT

I had a prickly pear sorbet at a lovely Italian restaurant in Encino, CA back in the late 90"s. The chef didn"t bother to take all the seeds out and it didn"t bother me a bit. I lived in Mexico for years and as previous commenters mentioned, we just swallow the seeds; they"re small and don"t bother me at all.

I prefer the "tunas" with the pale green flesh, but any will do in a pinch. I love sorbet, but also like to eat them out of hand.

We used the brick and singe method and then would just cut off the ends and slit with a knife to peel, as well.

Lovely recipe, thanks!

BeholdersEye

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:38:05 GMT

Got to try the burn method, I had just used a spoon or butter knife and rubbed tiny spines off under running water, time consuming. After that I just cut them in half throw them in a tall pot add some water and let them simmer/boil until the pears turn to mush, then filter with cheese cloth, no seeds and all juice.

Mario Roldan

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 07:10:13 GMT

I want to make Tuna gelato, would you pls send me a recipe with this special fruit.

fx

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:25:33 GMT

Thanks for those tips, Tara!

fx

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:12:56 GMT

Thanks for the tip Haik!

Haik

Sat, 7 Aug 2010 10:00:48 GMT

One of my favourite fruits. They are good when chilled and eaten during a hot evening.
In Cyprus they are called papoutsosika. I saw them growing in California as well.
A Cypriot trick - wash your hands with olive oil to get the nasty barbs out.

tara

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:34:34 GMT

to get rid of the barbs you can rub them on a brick or burn them. Then instead of cutting the skin off, you can just cut the ends off and then cut a line from top to bottom and peel the skin off.

junglegirl

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:09:38 GMT

We have them here and after peeling them, I hold one in my hand and use a screened seive to separate the seeds by "grating" the pear on the wire mesh. Works perfectly! This sorbet idea is great, must try, thank you.

fx

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:30:04 GMT

Cristobal, no doubt our friend the Opuntias came from the Americas. They became very much in fashion in the 16th century and there are all sorts of engravings showing potted prickly pears. You can read all about it in the great book called "A History of Succulent Plants", warmly recommended.
Good luck if you try the recipe!

Cristobal

Tue, 9 Dec 2008 16:19:11 GMT

Hey great recipe!

I do think that the "Cactus Pear" came from America, since it is used in the Mexican Shield etc... still, it may be a variant species or something that came from Sicily.

I love the Tunas (as we call them in mexico) and i"ll try your Tequila-Lemon-Tuna Sorbet the very next season of the fruit :) THX!

fx

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:34:54 GMT

Ginger, thanks for visiting, you are very lucky to have such a majestic tree in your folks" garden! All you really need is the juice, so you could just scrape out the flesh and seeds into a clean towel or T-shirt, and squeeze it to get all the juice out. No need for fancy mixers!

Ginger

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:03:01 GMT

Thank you! This is so clear, love the ddirections and the pictures.� I just ordered an ice cream maker so when i receive it i will try a variation of this.

we have prickly pears in the yard at my parents summer house and i have always had the feeling that they are edible even though they look different than the ones i have seen in the grocery store. i tasted one, but wasn"t certain they were of a variety you could eat, so i was doing some internet research on prickly pears to find out. i can"t identify them as a specific species but i haven"t read that any are poisonous, so i decided to take my chances and make a puree with them. found my way to your page because i was looking for a way to de-seed them. i considered putting them in the blender then straining, similarly to the way you did, but i was concerned that because the seeds are so hard that they might damage the blender blades. i don"t have a manual mixer like you do. do you think i should be concerned about that? (it"s my parents blender!) thanks!

fx

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:08:24 GMT

Thanks for the tip Mr Thinker, I"ll use garden gloves next time!

Mexican online

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 02:40:14 GMT

As a fun fact, this product is called in Mexico "tuna" (yeah, like tuna fish), and there�s a way to eat it more easily, just peel them (using a rubber glove instead of a fork will give you much more maneuverability) and put "em in the fridge for one night. Next day you"ll have an amazingly sweet and tasty dessert... well, there"s the seeds issue, don"t try to chew them. We use to swallow thema nd nobody has died because of it and it.Saludos from Mexico

Alfredo

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 05:02:50 GMT

Me gust� mucho tu articulo, particularmente yo las consumo frescas, con sal y lim�n. Hasta luego!!!

Bryanne

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 21:00:13 GMT

I"ve made prickly pear jelly before, and am planning on making it again this year.I use the ground-roll and torch method for the barbs. When picking the fruit (I go out and find them, they"re wild in Oklahoma) I usually pick them off the plant (with gloves on) and roll them in the dirt. Then when I get them home I take a butane torch and tongs and burn the rest off.Then I wear some thick nitrile gloves and wash them and scrub them gently with a wire brush under running water. After that they"re safe to handle with bare hands. I go out of my way to do all this work because I"ve had the barbs in my hands before, and they are not fun at all.

James

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 08:02:52 GMT

I like it bad and hot.

Sherri

Sat, 17 Feb 2007 15:48:55 GMT

Try a tong to hold the fruit over a flame (I"ve read that some use kitchen torches) to burn the spines (barbs).

Andee

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 01:54:39 GMT

I"ll have to try this out; I"d never considered it before. Prickly Pear"s are like weeds here in Perth, Australia - much like fennel, but that"s something else. I only ever eat them when I"m stuck at work can"t get away to the shop to buy something for a snack.