Nopales, nopalitos.

A popular food in Mexico.

Pretty much impossible to source fresh in London.

I will be in Spain this weekend and this is prickly pear season. Prickly pear plants are everywhere.

Seems it should be straightforward to cut off one of the budding paddles, peel it, cut it and cook it.

http://www.cookhereandnow.com/cookhereandnow/images/2007/04/21/nopales.jpg

However...

What if the prickly pear plants in Spain are different to those in Mexico?

My intuition tell me that if the fruits are edible, then it's probably the same plant.

Does anyone know more about nopales who could advise?

I might be out of luck :(

I found a comment in this blog
http://www.mercadocalabajio.com/2007/10/el-desconocido-higo-chumbo.html

"según mexicanos que conozco, nuestra chumberas no sirven para hacer nopales"

Translation:
According to Mexicans I know, our (Spanish) prickly pear plants aren't any good for making nopales.

If you are ever in Phoenix I have some in my backyard and you are welcome to them:)

no high end mexican places in london that might import?

Or even a Whole Foods type of place?

I might be out of luck :(

I found a comment in this blog
http://www.mercadocalabajio.com/2007/10/el-desconocido-higo-chumbo.html

"según mexicanos que conozco, nuestra chumberas no sirven para hacer nopales"

Translation:
According to Mexicans I know, our (Spanish) prickly pear plants aren't any good for making nopales.

You are right. Unfortunately the Spanish version are not the same as the Mexican delicacies. We have nopales in abundance here in CA. My mom makes an excellent dish with them so I love them as well. :) ^

Lap Lap,I of course have no problem getting fresh Napoles-and I have prepared them.
That said-how are you going to use them?If in a cooked dish I find the Vicoria brand jarred ones to be just fine-I also use these in salsas.
Fresh are a bit of a mess-very gummy ooze.And you have to peel them.
I do hope you find them and experiment.

My mom makes an excellent dish with them so I love them as well.

anyone care to share their recipes ?

Our local Mexican markets have nopales in abundance either the whole paddle or already prepped.

Turned out it was still too early for 'paddle buds' anyway (and it was a particularly rainy weekend).

I'll be back in Spain in a couple of weeks, so I'm going to hunt out some of the South American stalls in a local market and ask the guys who run them.

If all else fails, we have some land up in the mountains, I'll try and source this particular variety and just plant some. When I spoke to a Spanish friend this weekend she said to watch out where I planted them as the local 'chumberas' (which came from Mexico originally) 'shed' their hair like spines and these get carried by the wind. This makes them a particularly unpleasant plant to have growing in a garden. (The ravine at the edge of our property should be fine). I don't know if this is also a problem with the nopales plant.

What I aim to do with nopalitos once I finally get some is sear them in strips for 8-10 minutes in a hot, dry pan and take it from there.