Yesterday I came across a riot of deep fuchsia flowers growing on a spineless prickly pear bush. Or does it have another name in its tame, non-aggressive avatar? I wish I knew, but looking up on the Internet, all I could find is that Opuntia ficus indica could be found in a spineless version, but then it was supposed to have yellow/orangey flowers, which is quite obviously not the case here.
I got a bit crazy with my camera on this one…
Believe me, I have another dozen similar pictures. An interesting fact, which I was totally unaware of until yesterday, is that the paddles of this cactus can be eaten too. I knew of prickly pear (the fruit), of course, although I don't remember ever having tasted it, but the paddles (nopales, as they are called in Mexico) are a discovery. All the recipes I could find went on and on about the best way to remove the spines. And here I am, with a ready source for spineless paddles... I will try some of the recipes as soon as I can! meanwhile, I selected a few paddles to plant in my garden. The process seems pretty straightforward and foolproof. Exactly what I need!
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2 comments:
Congratulations for this interesting message. Making people aware of the importance of these spineless and edible "nopales" is indeed a valuable initiative. I wonder if people in Ghana would be interested in propagating this cactus at a very large scale, like people in Central and South America are doing on thousands of hectares. Anyway, this is an extraordinary variety that can help a lot in the drylands of Africa. Looking forward very hopefully. Prof. Dr. Willem Van Cotthem (Opuntia Ambassadors: https://www.facebook.com/groups/699997340039515/).
Thanks for your comment! I am currently in Togo although my base for the last 11 years has been Ghana. I never saw these in Ghana but my environment there is rather different (savanna bush about 35km from the sea in Ghana, as opposed to a coastal sandy band between the ocean and lake Togo here in Agbodrafo, Togo). I discussed nopales with locals who were not aware they could be eaten. The mucilaginous characteristic is not a problem since people here eat okra and are by no means put off by the slimy texture. Since I only discovered it last week, I haven't had an opportunity to actually taste it, but I intend cooking it in the way we do okra here and test it on my relatives. If they like it, they may be willing to get used to it, although my experience is that people don't stray far (or at all) from their ancestral recipes. From what my (more local) relatives told me, people here are not aware the fruit is edible either.
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