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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Frozen prickly pear margarita

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A prickly pear margarita is just the drink you need to punch up your cocktail hour!

Red prickly pear margarita in a glass rimmed with Tajin, sitting on a napkin on a green drink tray

Grocery stores are typically overflowing with prickly pears—known as tunas rojas in Spanish—in July, 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.

Read my helpful guide on how to peel and eat cactus fruit before you begin this recipe!

Prickly pears are full of pectin, which means they’re ideal for making jelly and jam! The pectin produces a syrupy consistency that’s also perfect for blending with ice to make a frozen margarita.

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red prickly pear frozen margarita in a glass

Frozen prickly pear margarita

  • Author: Maura Wall Hernandez
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 minutes
  • Yield: 3 cups 1x
  • Category: Cocktails
  • Cuisine: Mexican
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Description

Red prickly pears are the star of this spin on a classic frozen margarita.

Ingredients

Scale

4 ounces (1/2 cup) tequila blanco

1 ounce Cointreau

3 large red prickly pears (tunas rojas)

Juice of 1/2 of a large lime

1/2 cup natural cane sugar, such as Zulka azúcar morena

3 cups ice

1 tablespoon of Tajín (to rim the glasses; optional)

Instructions

Remove the skin from the prickly pears and chop roughly.

Add chopped prickly pears to a food processor or blender with tequila blanco, Cointreau, lime juice and sugar. Puree until smooth, then strain the puree to remove the prickly pear seeds.

In a clean blender or food processor cup, add the strained puree and 3 cups of ice and blend until the mixture becomes slushy.

Wet the rims of the glasses by rubbing with a lime wedge. Put the Tajín in a flat dish and dip the glass rims in it until they’re coated all the way around. 

Pour the margarita into the glasses and serve immediately.

Keywords: red prickly pear, red cactus pear, cactus fruit, margarita

For more on different varieties of prickly pears and how they’re used in Mexico, Saveur has an excellent little guide you should check out.

Agua de tuna roja

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[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/15416696[/vimeo]

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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