Spring 2020, Bebemos!, RecipesTorrey DouglassMarch 01, 2020

Prickly Pear Cocktail

Spring 2020, Bebemos!, RecipesTorrey DouglassMarch 01, 2020

The spiky, bright red or yellow fruits of the prickly pear cactus are eye-catching and a bit dangerous. Like foraging for stinging nettles, prickly pear fruits require special handling and can cause injury. That’s the kind of produce I like—hazard food.

This cactus grows in arid climates and has found its way to Mendocino County. Prickly pears ripen from late spring through fall. Fruits are ready to harvest when soft to the touch, but beware, they are covered with tiny bundles of stickers called glochids (seriously, wear gloves!). If you buy the fruits at the store, the stickers have likely been removed. Note: The pads of the prickly pear plant, called nopales, are a staple in Mexican cuisine and worth further recipe-exploration on their own.

For this recipe, we call for the fruits. Using dish gloves, peel the outer layer, removing all the bruised spots. Alternately, you can halve the fruit and, holding it in a gloved hand, scoop out the flesh, leaving the little seeds, hard as rocks, for now. (Like tomatoes, the flesh around the seeds is some of the most flavorful, so you want to retain as much of that as possible.)

Use the fruit to make the syrup below. Prickly Pear Syrup can be used to make jelly and candies, as well as cocktails. Live on the wild side and try out some hazard-foods like prickly pear. You won’t be disappointed.

Prickly Pear Syrup

1-½ c Prickly Pear flesh—halve the fruits and scoop out the flesh
¼ c sugar
3 c water
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Combine all ingredients except lemon juice in a pan. Cook over medium heat, mashing the flesh until it becomes liquid and the sugar is fully dissolved. Simmer 30 minutes until the mixture begins to thicken. Add lemon juice and stir. Remove from heat, let cool slightly, and strain the liquid over a bowl, pressing the pulp through and removing the seeds. Discard seeds and pour the syrup into a bottle for later use.