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Gregory Schaefer from G WORD'S "Ultimate Eco Cook Off" here, reflecting on what was, quite possibly, the manliest thing I've ever cooked: CACTUS!
I was scared to death with this challenge. I've eaten cactus maybe...twice? My old mechanic in Los Angeles used to love to cook me lunch and his wife would always feed me pickled nopales. I thought they were green peppers at first but eventually realized they were strips of cactus paddles. Last year I took a day-trip to Tijuana and ate an amazing salad of seared cactus with quesa fresca and chicharrones (pork crackling). Pretty awesome stuff. But do I eat cactus regularly? No. Have I ever cooked cactus? No.
A week before the shoot I visited a local Latino supermarket and loaded up on paddles. When I got home I grilled and devoured them with salt, pepper and lime juice. Kinda like a pickle, kinda like a green pepper, not at all what you'd think they'd taste like.
The cactus John Dicus grows out at Rivenrock Gardens are really surprising! They have an incredible flavor—a sweetness with citrus notes, fresh, crisp, green and alive! It's a shame that we cooked 'em as John's cactus are excellent raw!
Rivenrock is a little farm that's WAY OUT there in cactus land. I was sad to hear that the bulk of John's business goes to feeding tortoise and iguanas. NOT THAT I DON'T LOVE my reptile friends, but Rivenrock's cactus are great eating!
Chef Gary Hamel is totally cool. Very snazzy to learn that he was one of the area's original organic/vegetarian chefs. That guy has mad skills too, his dish blew me away. The sauces in particular were really incredible and an ingenious way to utilize the slimy ooze that cactus gives off. Brilliant.
I kept it real simple, frittata. You know, there's nothing like a great frittata and a South Western one with chipotles and corn and CACTUS? It was a pretty seamless creation for me. My dish may not have been as refined as Gary's but it was wholesome and hearty and just honest grub—like the cactus itself!
Catch Gregory Schaefer cooking cactus on the Power of DC episode of G Word!
More On Cactus:
Cactus Frittata
Gary Edward Hamel's Cooked Cactus Sauce
Put a Cactus in Front of Your PC
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