photo: Ted Parks
Early in the morning Eva Maria Luis Diego drives out into the desert west of Tucson. It is late April and she is taking her son’s children to the traditional harvesting grounds of her family. For more time than anyone can remember her people have made the trek, now by car, before cars by horse, before the horse by foot to the base of Black Rock Hill where acres of Cholla Cactus stand vigil over the Sonoran desert. Here she oversees the harvest of the buds of the Staghorn cholla cactus and continues the tradition of gathering from the desert a food that will nourish her clan.
The buds of the Staghorn and Buchhorn Cholla cactus are about the size of your thumb and are the perfect desert food. Abundant and brimming with nutrition it provides the body with the goodness one can only dream of getting in a Cliff bar. A third of a cup of buds has more calcium than an 8-ounce glass of milk, more potassium than a banana and 9 grams of fiber.
After the buds have been harvested Eva will oversee their processing. The buds are placed in a screen box and swept with a broom to release the small spines. The buds are then boiled until tender and laid out to dry. After boiling any spines that may have been present are gone. The dried buds are ready to eat at this time or can be stored for use through out the year and reconstituted with the addition of water. The buds can be ground and then turned into porridge or just consumed as they are.
Eva suggests sautéing with onion and garlic and then serving in fresh made corn tortillas. However consumed, this staple of the Sonoran Desert can help to nourish those who are interested in eating local.
