Prickly pear tunas
These tunas are the domesticated variety, Opuntia ficus_indica, that grow wild all over the San Diego County back country roads. The really red ones are ready to eat and/or juice, the yellow-orange ones, which get more shade, should ripen in a couple of weeks. Longer gathering season . . .
These are some of the reddest tunas I’ve ever seen. I’ll be back in a few days to gather them to make juice, which I freeze for the coming months. The tunas are incredibly nutritious. Several articles about the health benefits of the juice are posted on the Arizona Cactus Ranch website here. For recipes, there’s the Prickly Pear Cookbook by Carolyn Niethammer. The pads are edible as well, but it’s the young, bright green pads that ripen in the spring that are good to eat, minus the spines, of course.
AARRGGHH! This brings back bad memories for me. I discovered a large cactus at the back of a disused petrol station (possibly not the best choice for food in hindsight) and was sharing my parental knowledge with my daughters. I told them that the fruits were edible and proceeded to pick some and give them to my daughters…we were picking teeny tiny spines out of our tongues, teeth and cheeks for weeks afterwards and it did nada for respect from my now VERY cynical daughters whenever I proclaim something “edible”.
narf77 said this on April 7, 2012 at 12:05 am |
Hi,
Where can I find the tunas in the San Diego area?
Freddy Espinoza said this on December 31, 2011 at 8:09 pm |
hi freddy, well, the wild and/or feral tunas are pretty much gone. you might be able to pick up some tunas at a mexican market such as northgate. there are several in the san diego area. good luck!
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deborah small said this on January 1, 2012 at 7:06 am |
There are also good if you peel them and store them in the fridge for a day. When you go back and eat them the next day they get crisp and are delicious.
ERIC said this on December 4, 2011 at 9:12 pm |
hi eric,
thanks for the tip. i haven’t tried peeling them first and leaving them for a day in the fridge. i’ll try that!
deborah small said this on December 5, 2011 at 5:08 am |