Fico d'India

Some yummy prickly pears we had this past weekend. They were probably shipped in from Sicily so are a little faded and not as tasty as they would be if they came fresh from the plant-but still great.

They are a Sicilian favorite and are always around at parties and special occasions. The taste is very sweet depending on how ripe they are but many people find them hard to eat due to their texture and the difficulty to peel them without getting very fine needles in your fingers.

Their insides are not fleshly like a peach but are harder and full of seeds which need to be massaged around the mouth and swallowed whole. As a child, I would spit out each one (which took ages) but now I can savor the seeds and texture as part of the whole experience.

It is hard to explain the food experience - it is very unique, my only suggestion is to get one, be very careful peeling it and try it for yourself.

In Sicily they are called fico d’India or fichi d’India – depending on who is saying it, in which dialect and in which region of Sicily. Yes, it is that diverse from town to town.

In scientific terms Wikipedia tells us that prickly pears, also called Opuntia is a genus in the cactus family Cactaceae.

They have two kinds of spines; large, smooth, fixed spines and small, hairlike spines called glochids that easily penetrate skin and detach from the plant.

A true Sicilian can cut these without getting any needles in them. There are different ways to slice and dice these to avoid the needles but it is mostly done the way your father or grandfather cut it. Some people use dishwashing gloves, newspaper, brown paper bags and more… but they are usually laughed at.

Another interesting tidbit:
Charles Darwin was the first to note that these cacti have thigmotactic anthers. This means that as its anthers are touched they curl over, depositing their pollen. This movement can be seen by gently poking the anthers of an open Opuntia flower. Am going to try this next time I am in Sicily.