Incredible edible cacti: The Prickly Pear

The prickly pear is a wonderful treat and the ingredient in one of my favorite appetizers at Mom Is Cooking in San francisco. They are tricky to eat, but well worth the work. There are a litany of uses for this plant, (including beauty products). If you are looking for recipes for your prickly pears first look up how to harvest the cactus. In many of the instructions I've seen they suggest some drastic measures: either dipping your cactus in bleach (which does not sound like a good idea to me) OR using a blow-torch to burn off the cactus spines before handling the plant. Though they are both tactics not normally applied in the kitchen, the latter sounds like a much more food-friendly solution.