Ever had a prickly pears from Granada?Here is where and how to get some...Go to almost any hillside within the province of Granada and you will see chumbos from Granada (prickly pears) growing on the pads of the cactus plant. And just this morning I saw a couple, one with gloves and fire-tongs and the other carrying a bucket.. ... busily harvesting their "early" chumbos and using the thick gloves, tongs and buckets for self protection. The chumbos are delicous to eat and profitable to sell. To buy just three prickly pears in Granada (prepared and ready to eat) will cost at least a euro. The fruit we are talking about is, in actual fact, the Opuntia ficus-indica (Indian Fig Opuntia) which is a variety of domesticated cactus found throughout the hot and dry parts of the world. The fruit and the pads, seeds, and even the flowers are all edible and can be prepared and eaten in a variety of ways but, in this area of Andalucia it is the prickly pears (chumbos) themselves which are most enjoyed. 
Some of our neighbours actually encourage the spread of these easy to grow plants around the perimeter of their property. Why? For two reasons:- First, because they form an effective barrier against all types of intruders (human and animal) and Second, in September of each year they have a bumper crop of prickly pears from Granada to harvest. The plants start to flower in June and the flowers can come in a multitude of attractive colours. The growth of these plants has been documented for many centuries. They even accompanied Christopher Columbus on his explorations to prevent the onset of scurvy. Prickly pears have been used as a sweetener, as a flavouring for ice cream, as a hair conditioner. Having said al that, these chumbos need to be approached with caution as they are not called prickly pears from Granada for nothing!! They are covered with a layer of fine spiney hairs or glochids which can irritate if they get caught in the skin.
Around the Granada and Padul area they are harvested in the following cautious manner:-
Here is a more detailed description of preparing prickly pears from Granada.As well as simply eating the flesh of the prickly pears Granada they can also be used for pies, jams and milk shakes. But the joy of harvesting and then preparing them make for a special treat and a real occasion. If you would like to try some, visit our bed and breakfast in Granada in September and we will be pleased to give you some thick gloves and a pair of tongs and point you in the right direction for prickly pears from Padul. It is an experience well worth enjoying. Top ten links related to this page
To catch more information about Prickly pears in Granada subscribe to our newsletter. To go to the top of this page click on prickly pears from Granada To find out all about Granada go to Granada information To locate any webpage on this site go to our site map
|
