Prickly pear cacti. Around here they grow almost everywhere.
It is said that the first ones were planted by Venetians on Crete and on the Aegean islands.
They are easy to grow… even on a stone wall nearby a minoan site.
They provide fences for the Cretan olive groves.
And their fruits are delicious…
The best way to enjoy them? Eat them chilled.
Of course, peel them first, to remove the spines (Hold prickly pears down with a fork. Use a small sharp knife to cut off their ends, make incisions lengthwise down them and carefully peel the tough skin.)
In Greek they are called French figs (fragosyka), Paul’s figs (pavlosyka), soft figs (apalosyka), shoe figs (papoutsosyka).
my favorite all time fruit -cant wait to taste these once more!
I’m curious to know how she cleans them!
Great minds think alike. I’ve taken lots of photos of prickly pears and I’m waiting to post them when I write about our trip to Sparta. My SIL peels them without using a fork. Don’t know how she manages. However they are delicious.
Prickly pears taste like a cross between melons and figs.
I love their use as a natural fence! Given the names listed here, do the fruits taste like figs? 😎