FOOD RESOURCE COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
CACTUS PEAR or PRICKLY PEAR
The Wide Encyclopedia of Cookery. An Encyclopedic Handbook for the Homemaker covering Foods and Beverages-their Purchase, Preparation, and Service. 1951. Wm. H. Wise & Co., Inc., New York.
is a spiney, yet edible, fruit of a cactus plant and is plentiful in the southwestern states. It is also called Indian pear, India fig, Barbary fig, and tuna fig. The season for this pear-shaped fruit is from october to the middle of January. It is used raw in salads, preserved, or pickled. Cactus or prickly pears should be kept at a moderate temperature-never in the refrigerator. When preparing the, peel them by sitting the skin lengthwise as a first step.