ouchy fellas

look what the mister brought me last night! prickly pears! they grow in the wild up the Rock and somewhere in the world they grow them as food. recently, we saw these cacti fruits for sale on the side of the road in front of the Watergardens and also right after you cross the frontier to Spain. i was curious as to how they tasted but never really found the time to have a taste.

around the fruit itself are little needle-like hairs or "glochids" that is so bothersome if it gets into your skin. its a bit tricky to handle them. we used a thick kitchen towel to open one.

this is my first time to eat these prickly pears. inside is a succulent ochre-colored flesh with tiny black hard seeds that taste like a cross between a pear and a young guava (IMHO). i've been told that it has components in fighting type II diabetes :D well, at least some species are.