Each culture has different customs when it comes to preparing the dishes considered traditional or typical, which are commonly consumed on an every-day basis. However, I've found on my travels overseas that most cultures eat bread and/or products made with flour of some kind, such as bread, pasta, tortillas, pitas, etc.

I think that the regular flour used to make these products could be mixed with cactus flour, particulary with "opuntia" cactus (commonly known as "prickly pear" cactus) as I just found out that these vegetables have amazing nutritional properties that are not being exploted as they should. The higher the percentage of cactus flour in your bread, the healthier your meal will be.

Opposite to wheat and corn, for example, prickly pear cactus is cheaper to grow, since it grows faster, and practically without any human help. It's also lower in fat, and higher in vitamins. It's taste is not dominant, so when combined with other flours it's barely noticeable.

It would also give people who are allergic to wheat (or people who are on a diet) the chance to grab a slice of pizza without so much guilt, or without the risk of an intoxication.
-- Pericles, Feb 14 2003

Some information about prickly pear cactus http://www.unifi.it.../ueresgen29/ds5.htm
[Pericles, Oct 05 2004]

Cactus treats http://www.desertus...oct97/oct_pear.html
cactus fruits are yummy!! [Pericles, Oct 05 2004]

Have your Cactus, and drink it too! http://www.prodigyw...lajaula/jauproi.htm
Prickly Pear Liqueur [Cedar Park, Oct 05 2004]

Effect of the ingestion nopal flour http://ag.arizona.e...ctus/ingestion.html
raw and scalded in Wistar rats [thumbwax, Oct 05 2004]

Cactus Pear Bread http://www.cactuspe...%20pear%20bread.htm
Uses reg. flour and Cactus Juice [thumbwax, Oct 05 2004]

I guess they wouldn't require much water. Many of us may be more familiar with the name "prickly pear" cactus... most of my experience with them involved a bicycle. Eating them is not a revenge that would have immediately sprung to mind.
-- lurch, Feb 14 2003


Thanks for the vocabulary update lurch. I'll make sure I change it to the common name before I leave.
-- Pericles, Feb 14 2003


Unabuba, the idea reads "grab a slice of pizza without so much guilt", not completely without it. I am alergic to wheat and even though I have found ways to eat things like pizza (replacing the flour base with something else) it' would be much better if It could get closer to the real thing.
-- cancan, Feb 14 2003


Interesting, I had no idea cactus was edible.
-- RoboBust, Feb 14 2003


Yes, cacti are edible - bottled as *napolitos*, I believe.
-- thumbwax, Feb 14 2003


And let's not forget Copil, the Pricky Pear Cactus Liqueur! [link]
-- Cedar Park, Feb 15 2003


Nor the wondrous agave tequilana.
-- FarmerJohn, Feb 15 2003


Harvesting's a bit of a bother, though.
-- RayfordSteele, Feb 18 2003


Harvesting is not such a bother. All it takes is wearing a plastic glove on one of the hands.
-- Pericles, Feb 18 2003


Cactus flour? I found 1 result searching for it, and that was in the form "cactus, flour". How would you go about making cactus flour?
-- weevil, Apr 07 2003


Pericles, I'll assume it is the seeds that are ground into flour. How many seeds on each plant? Any idea of the number of plants, acreage, so on and so forth to produce a 100# bag of flour?
-- thumbwax, Jun 07 2003


The tasty'er factor is nice, I'd like to try some bread made from that flour. And the thought of "NACHOS" being deriverd from such a thing, all I can say is cool. The very idea of replacing boring protein intakes is interesting to me. but the sheer idea of competing with CORN , well my land.
-- supercheezynachos, Jun 07 2003


you'd have to make sure they're fair game in whatever region you're harvesting them. In much of the (US) mid-west they're a protected endangered species.
-- ry4an, Jun 07 2003


[thumbwax] No, it's not the seeds. The prickly pear cactus leaves is what you grind into flour.

[ry4an] Prickly pear cactus is not an endangered species and it's commonly found in hot-dry regions. Mexico alone can harvest enough for the demand.
-- Pericles, Jul 19 2003



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