September 1, 2008

Photo du Jour - Figues de Barbarie


Figues de Barbarie - prickly pears - growing in the Minervois.

Both the fruit and the paddles are edible. Watch out, those spines are painful! I recommend thick, heavy gloves. Pin It

11 comments:

Andreea said...

bonjour loulou - i would be very interested what you can do with them :)
lately, at the market, they sell them by the caisse ... but i never know what next with them?

Jennifer said...

They make a wonderful purée with which you can make margaritas (a personal favorite)

Prickly Pear Puree

Wash and peel ripe prickly pears. Cut in half with a knife and scoop out the seeds. Force the raw pulp through a medium to fine strainer. Freeze either fruit pulp or the puree. Simply pack into freezer containers and seal. Thaw before using.

OR

Prickly Pear Marmalade

4 cups chopped prickly pears
1 cup sliced lemon
2 oranges
1 or more cups of sugar (see below)

Chop orange peel and pulp. Add 4 cups water to lemon and orange. Let stand 12 to 18 hours in a cool place. Boil until peel is tender. Cool. Measure lemon, orange and water in which cooked. Add chopped prickly pears and 1 cup of sugar for each cup of combined pear, lemon, orange and water. Boil to the jellying point. Pour, boiling hot, into hot jars. Seal at once.

Anonymous said...

I second using them to make the margarita's. When we lived in Ft. Lauderdale there was a S.W. restaurant that served them, they were wonderful.

dj

Andreea said...

aha ... now that sounds fabulous :)
thanks!

Mélanie said...

They are dangerous fruits

Jennifer said...

anon
I had one in Texas once. SOOO good.

andreea
You won't be disappointed.

mélanie
Dangerous, but delicious.

Paola Westbeek said...

Wow! I've never heard of those! What do they taste like???
Love that color, btw!
Paola

Riana Lagarde said...

oh! we saw some today on our walk! will have to get some heavy gloves and go back

chilichews posted about making jelly with the fruit
http://chilechews.blogspot.com/2008/08/tuna-wrangling-aka-processing-prickly.html
yum!

Jennifer said...

paola
They are musty-sweet. It is difficult to describe. You should try them if you can find some.

riana
They are dangerous things! Gloves, definitely.

Anonymous said...

ils sont très beaux!

Jennifer said...

merci Lory!