{prickly pear flutters}
While trawling through Checkers the other day, I came upon trays and trays of freshly picked prickly pears. My heart burst into an immediate flutter as I remember with much affection my childhood memories of cold and crisp prickly pears. I used to eat them whole – pips and all.
{the good old days}
Recollections of holidays spent with my aunt on their farm in Harrismith came flooding back. She had one of those enormously long dining room tables – you know the ones that could seat at least twenty. My family, Oom Samie and Tannie Miena used to gather around the table at mealtimes. Just after Oom Fanie said grace, Tannie Miena would ring the silver bell she always had and minutes later the household help would appear bringing in tray upon tray of food. Freshly baked bread, genuine farm butter, fig jam, farm eggs, chops, sausage and the rest – and this was only breakfast! But I always remember the great big bowls of prickly pears…it was something like a South African Babette’s Feast, each mealtime, each day,
I never knew where to start… or what to eat first. But one thing I always did was leave the best for last – the chilled prickly pears. It was for me the pièce de résistance.
{cheeky cumin seeds}
Snapping out of my retro daydreaming, I packed in a good few prickly pears and headed straight home. I took one of the long favoured recipes from Cook and Enjoy and cheekily added some cumin seeds and a squeeze of lemon juice. Delicious!
- 500g peeled prickly pears
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 ¼ cups water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- pinch of salt
- Put the sugar, water in a pot and bring to a boil. Place the prickly pears, lemon juice and cumin in the syrup. Cook slowly for as ¾ hours until soft and transparent. Bottle and store.
Oooo, yum dit lyk heerlik!
this looks and sounds amazing–need to give it a try
Well done Anel that is such a under estimated fruit
It also looks easy to make
Lots of love
Mary Van Apeldoorn