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tinsel · Post by **tinsel** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 6:53 am

Is any of you familiar with Mexican food called "Nopalitos"? It is made of Opuntia "leaf parts".

I'm not trying to fool you, there are some images on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id ... 821&size=l
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id ... 797&size=l

Post by **daiv** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 2:54 am

Yes that's right. Most markets here have them. In Baja, I noticed many places where they were grown like this:

The species is most often O. ficus-indica

tinsel · Post by **tinsel** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 7:41 am

That is interesting, thank you Daiv! O. ficus-indica is quite common cactus at homes as a hobby plant. Probably the young growth of the plant is used for food? There are some nopalito recipies on internet, so maybe this could be worth to try - or I should just pay a visit to a local Mexican food restaurant to see, if I like the dish...

ihc6480 · Post by **ihc6480** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:53 am

Buy one of those pads from the market then stick it in a pot and watch it grow. I have one in my frontroom thats about 3 foot tall that was grown this way

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:58 am

Hello tinsel,
we do have quite a large number of people arriving from Mexico with "nopales" or "nopalitos" the pad of Opuntia spp. and also with tunas (prickly pear fruit) from the same plant. A traveler told me, that the nopales are sliced and then eaten with scrambled eggs. I myself have never tried them. Maybe it would be a good idea for you to sample their taste. The "tunas" come in two varieties, a sweet version that is used for eating fresh and a sour one that even has a different name ("coconoistle" or something like that) and is put into soups. Although generally only new pads are harvested, some with temporary green, succulent cone-like structures attached, some species are harvested with glochids and spines present. The former are then removed by a tumbling process and the latter are cut off, which removes part of the pad. It would be easiest to purchase a pad that does not show this injury, visible as light patches on your first photo. The second image does show an intact pad and I would go with that kind.

Harald

tinsel · Post by **tinsel** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:48 pm

Hello Billy and Harald,
I'm more and more interested in this cactus food. You see, here is for example a native soup and vegetable beefs made of young nettle - believe me, it's really, really good and old fashion food! It is possible to buy cactus fruits at the biggest local department stores, but cactus for food - it is so exotic!

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:29 pm

Hi Tinsel- It is interesting isn't it? Ted Anderson in his book _The Cactus Family_ also says that in South America, a small cactus named Neowerdermannia vorwerkii is peeled, boiled and eaten. This was news to me!

here's a pic of Neowerdermannia vorwerkii:

http://www.cact.cz/noviny/2005/06/s_Neo ... verkii.jpg

seems a shame to eat it-- it's such a nice plant!

Anderson's book has a whole section on some interesting uses for cacti, including as food.

peterb

Post by **daiv** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 8:18 pm

I couldn't bring myself to do it Peter.

KactusKathi · Post by **KactusKathi** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 3:43 am

My husband loves them diced and then scrambled with eggs. It's a true staple food in Mexico. I just can't get past the slimmy part that coats the pad!

Buck Hemenway · Post by **Buck Hemenway** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 2:58 pm

Our Cactus Club has an annual "Cactus Cook-off". We've tasted dishes that range from casseroles made with nopalitos and salads made with blanched pieces of them to magaritas made with the juice from the O. ficus-indica tunas to frozen yogurt mad from the dark red tuna from O. robusta. Most are good, some great.

The Opuntia is reported to be a US$100 million industry in Mexico. The harvesting and using of the cochineal is also an important part of that number.

tinsel · Post by **tinsel** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:22 pm

Hi! I found canned Nopalitos "La Constena Nopalitos – tender cactus"

It's very light food, only 25 calories per 137 g.

Cactus omelette sounds worth to try!

Lewis_cacti · Post by **Lewis_cacti** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:55 am

hmmm interesting,
Here in Australia Opuntia Ficus-india is abundant and is declared a noxious weed and along with some of its relatives is often found in gardens, wasteland, bushland etc. There would be plenty of material available for these 'Nopalitos', even a couple of houses down from mine there is a front yard completely infested with the stuff. (i pinch the odd fruit(s) occasionally

). however, i doubt they would be a real seller due to many people's unpleasant experiences trying to eat prickly pear with the glochids (how dumb can you get) and many people are prejuced against the plants themselves after they invaded areas up north.

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 8:47 pm

Hey Lewis_cacti,
you are absolutely right. The glochids are a pain in the you know what! Usually tunas (fruit) and nopales (pads) are either peeled or processed or the very new growth is harvested, before it forms spines or glochids. The fruit also can be a bit tricky to eat, because they do have rather large and numerous seeds.

Harald

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