More precisely, come into my kitchen (cocina) where I prepared our Prickly Pear Cactus fruit (tuna) into a delicious drink.

In the summer every year our prickly pear cactus shows off all its splendor. First it’s the gorgeous orange flowers and then in late summer the fruit (tuna) come out.

Mostly the birds get them before we do, but this year I was able to get some of them without bird pecked holes in them. Also, the little juancito that lives around here loves to eat all the cactus. They are a burrowing animal that resembles a tiny chipmunk. They are annoying because they are like a little gopher. In fact, the Mexicans we know refer to them as gophers.

I was successful in getting my first batch of these tasty fruits and I felt so excited.

Today was the day I would try to eat them for the first time. The plant itself is about 10 years old, and I’ve had it for 8 years. It has been through a very damaging hurricane (Odile) and it broke a big section. So, we planted the part that broke off right next to what remained, and now we have one gigantic plant (that is really two). The paddles on it are thick, not like the prickly pear cactus you probably have seen. And the spines on this one are so tiny and numerous, and you can hardly see them in your fingers and hands. Ouch. The pads, or nopales, on this plant are huge and fat.

Cactus pads (nopales) are eaten year-round, but it’s only in summer that the fruits reach maturity. Our tuna are deep magenta in color and the outer skin is green until it’s ripe and then it’s red.

We have two other prickly pear plants and they are more like the kind you see in San Diego, CA and in AZ. They put out beautiful yellow flowers. The pads are thinner and have more distinct spines to watch out for. Actually, they are so distinct that I rarely get them in my fingers, as I can see where the darn things are. 

Today I made us two awesome drinks with the fruit (tuna) and lime, water, sugar, and ice in the blender. I made a syrup out of the rest of the juice to save for making more yummy drinks for us.

Wash the tuna. Put them on a platter to dry. 

Slice off the ends and then slice down the center of the fruit, making two halves.

Remove the fruit from the thick skin and put it in the blender.

Blend them well.

Pour through a strainer to get all the juice and throw the blended seeds out.

Pour the strained juice back into the blender to make two glasses (about 2/3 cup of juice) and blend with 4 Mexican limes and 1/3 cup of sugar, 3/4 cup of water, and a whole tray of ice cubes.

Oh my! The heavenly and refreshing drink is our new favorite. Next year we are going to be diligent about getting the fruit before the birds and juancitas get them. If you are lucky enough to have these in your yard, you must try getting the fruit. Wear gloves. Even if you think there aren’t spines, there are. Believe me. Wear gloves.