The prickly pear is a cactus native to the Americas but was widely exported in the 1800s. In Australia it is now considered a pernicious and unwelcome weed. But in Mediterranean and Arabic countries the fruit is sought after as a delicacy. The food writer Anissa Helou explains to Anna McNamee how she uses them to flavour ice cream.
Arabic Ice Cream
You can vary endlessly on this recipe by replacing the prickly pears with any other type of fruit: mango (mangua), figs (teen) mulberry (toot), banana (moz), raspberry or strawberry (fraise).
Use the weight given below as a guide for the amount of fruit pulp you need. Makes about 1 1/4 litre
Ingredients 300 ml organic milk 175 g golden caster sugar 300 ml crème fraîche 500 g peeled prickly pears
Method 1. Boil the milk for a minute or so, then take off the heat and pour into a bowl with a spout. Add the sugar and cream and stir until the sugar is dissolved. 2. Put the prickly pears in a food processor and process until completely pulverized. 3. Add the puréed prickly pears to the milk and cream and mix well. Then either put the bowl in the freezer and whisk every hour or so until it has reached the desired consistency. Or freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker, following the manufacturer's instructions.
