The Other Side of the Tortilla

tunas

How to peel and eat cactus fruit

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Cactus fruit, also know as cactus pear or prickly pear, comes from the nopal cactus.

Native to Mexico, the nopal cactus is sometimes called prickly pear cactus, but the plant’s Latin name is Opuntia. In Spanish, cactus fruit are called tunas. The fruit grows on the rounded edges of cactus paddles and has a thick skin covered in small spines. Once cut open, you’ll see they have a soft, juicy meat inside with lots of dark, round seeds.

Red cactus fruits

How to cut and peel cactus fruit

Using a sharp knife, cut the two ends of the fruit, making sure to cut all the way through to the flesh. Stand the fruit on one side and make a vertical cut through the skin (it’s OK if you cut into the flesh a bit). With your finger or the tip of the knife, lift a corner of the skin where you made the vertical cut and use your fingers to peel the skin away from the fruit. Discard the skin.

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Prickly pear frozen margarita

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A prickly pear margarita is just the drink you need to punch up your party menu!

Grocery stores are typically overflowing with prickly pears—known as tunas rojas in Spanish—in August and September. You can eat them plain, use them to make agua fresca de tuna roja, watermelon and prickly pear paletas, prickly pear sorbet or even margaritas! There are so many possibilities.

How to make a red prickly pear frozen margarita. Recipe via theothersideofthetortilla.com.

Prickly pears are full of pectin, which makes them ideal for jelly and jam-making. The pectin produces a syrupy consistency that’s also perfect for blending with ice to make a frozen margarita. I’m serving this margarita for our Mexican Independence Day celebration. It’s a sophisticated representation of the Mexican flag: red from the prickly pears, white from the tequila blanco and green from the lime.

¡Viva México!…

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Agua de tuna roja

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I still remember the first time I saw tunas growing wild – José and I were visiting Mexico City one warm week at the end of the summer several years ago. One afternoon we were bored, so my suegra suggested that José take me on an official tour of Ciudad Universitaria. Also referred to as CU, it is home to the main campus of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (la UNAM or in English, the National Autonomous University of Mexico), the largest university in Latin America and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2007.

This year on September 22, UNAM celebrated 100 years since its founding as the National University of Mexico as it was conceptualized by Secretary and Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, Justo Sierra, and inaugurated in 1910 by President Porfirio Díaz. The university is also the successor to the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico, founded by Spanish Royal Decree in 1551 – technically making UNAM one of the oldest universities in the Americas.

On the campus grounds, besides the historic buildings designed by some of Mexico’s most well-known architects, murals and sculptures by famous Mexican artists, an Olympic stadium that has hosted a Summer Olympic Games (1968) and a World Cup (1986), and an impressive number of students, faculty and staff, there exists a serene, green space that is as close to the original land’s flora and fauna as it might have grown freely during the height of the Aztec empire….

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