NOPAL

Nopales are a vegetable made from the young stem segments of prickly pear, carefully peeled to remove the spines. They are particularly common in their native Mexico. Farmed nopales are most often of the species Opuntia ficus-indica, although the pads of almost all Opuntia species are edible.Nopales are generally sold fresh or canned, less often dried to prepare nopalitos. They have a light, slightly tart flavor, and a crisp, mucilaginous texture.