On Food and Cooking

from the early European idea that the dried
fruit was an “Indian fig.” The cactus arrived
in the Old World in the 16th century and
spread like a weed in the southern
Mediterranean and Middle East. While both
stem pads and fruits are eaten in the
Americas, Europeans concentrated on the
fruits, which ripen in the summer and fall and
have a thick skin, green to red or purple, and
many hard seeds embedded in a reddish,
sometimes magenta flesh. The main pigment
is not an anthocyanin but a beet-like betain (p.
268). The aroma is mild, reminiscent of
melons thanks to similar alcohols and
aldehydes. Like the pineapple and kiwi, cactus
pears contain a protein-digesting enzyme that
can affect gelatin gels unless it’s inactivated
by cooking. The pulp is removed and
generally eaten fresh as juice or in salsas, or
boiled down to a syrup or further to a pasty
consistency. The paste is made into candies
and cakes with flour and nuts.