Cooking with Prickly Pear
Recipes with Prickly Pear — Morocco's Roadside Cactus Fruit and Its Oil
Prickly pear (karmous nsara, or karmous hindi — 'the Christians' figs' or 'Indian figs') is the cactus fruit sold from carts on every Moroccan street corner in high summer, peeled to order by vendors whose hands seem immune to the tiny spines. Cool, sweet and full of hard seeds, it is above all a refreshing snack, but it also becomes juice and syrup, and its seeds yield one of the world's most expensive cosmetic oils. This guide covers how Morocco enjoys prickly pear, how to peel it without getting a hand full of spines, and its prized by-products.
How Moroccans enjoy prickly pear
Prickly pear is overwhelmingly eaten fresh and chilled, as a street snack — vendors peel the fruit and hand over the sweet, seed-flecked flesh to eat on the spot. It is prized as a cooling summer refreshment and a folk remedy for digestion. Beyond eating out of hand, the flesh is blended and strained into a juice or syrup. The many hard seeds are usually swallowed or spat out; they are not chewed. The fruit's real luxury by-product is the oil pressed from those seeds.
The best ways with prickly pear
Chilled peeled fruit — the classic street-cart snack, eaten straight. Prickly pear juice — flesh blended and strained free of seeds, served over ice. Prickly pear syrup or jam — the strained juice cooked with sugar. Sorbet — the vivid magenta or golden juice frozen. Cactus seed oil — pressed from the tiny seeds, a costly ingredient in Moroccan skincare rather than cooking. The fruit is far more a refreshment than a cooking ingredient.
Peeling without the spines
The fruit is covered in tiny, near-invisible spines (glochids) that lodge painfully in skin, so never grab a prickly pear bare-handed from the plant. To peel: hold it with a fork or tongs, slice off both ends, cut a shallow slit along the length of the skin, and fold the thick skin back off the flesh. Many cooks first rub or rinse off the spines under running water, or the vendor has already done it. Chill before eating. The flesh, once peeled, is completely safe and smooth.
Cook's tips
- Never handle an unpeeled prickly pear bare-handed — the tiny glochid spines lodge in skin painfully.
- Peel by holding with a fork, slicing off both ends, slitting the skin lengthways and folding it back.
- Chill the fruit before eating for the most refreshing result.
- Strain the blended flesh well for juice or syrup — the hard seeds are inedible.
- Look out for cactus seed oil, the fruit's luxury by-product, prized in Moroccan skincare.
Questions about cooking with Prickly Pear
How do I peel a prickly pear safely?
Hold it with a fork or tongs, cut off both ends, make a shallow lengthways slit through the skin, and fold the thick skin back off the flesh. First rinse or rub off the tiny spines, or buy it already de-spined from a vendor.
Can you eat the seeds of a prickly pear?
The seeds are very hard and not chewed — people either swallow them with the flesh or spit them out. For juice, the flesh is blended and strained to remove them.
What is prickly pear used for besides eating?
The flesh is made into juice, syrup, jam and sorbet, while the seeds are pressed for cactus seed oil, an expensive ingredient in Moroccan cosmetics and skincare rather than cooking.
Why is it called karmous nsara?
The name means 'the Christians' figs' (also karmous hindi, 'Indian figs'), reflecting that the cactus was introduced to Morocco from the Americas. Despite the name, it is unrelated to true figs.
When is prickly pear in season in Morocco?
High summer, when the fruit is sold chilled from carts on street corners across the country as a cheap, cooling snack.
Cook these dishes with a local in Marrakech
Learn to handle prickly pear the Moroccan way in a hands-on cooking class, or taste it across the medina on a guided food tour.