Wandering the produce section at the grocery store is quite possibly one of my favorite activities. I love scouting out hard-to-find ingredients or discovering new fruits and vegetables that I have never seen before. It is virtually impossible for me to walk into a store without at least taking a peak at what they have – even if I am just running in to grab an item or two. Chele calls it my Compulsive Produce Check™ (or “CPC” for short). During one of these mandatory recon missions at a Tony’s Fresh Market last year, I encountered something I had never even heard of before: “xoconostle”. It was clearly some sort of prickly pear cactus fruit, but clearly different than the red and green cactus pears like the ones used in our Prickly Pearade. These were smaller, more rounded, and with pink and yellow skins that had sort of dull “matte” look to them, versus the glossy skins of most cactus I was familiar with. Intrigued, I decided to do a little research.
It turns out xoconostles are indeed a type of prickly pear, and they are sometimes referred to as “sour prickly pear”. Unlike most cactus fruits that are mostly juice-filled pulp with small seeds scattered throughout, these have thick flesh with their seeds clustered tightly at the center. Also unlike most cactus fruit, it is the flesh that is primarily eaten rather than the sweet pulp that holds the seeds. In the flavor department, xoconostle is distinctively sour, but not harshly acidic like lemon or lime. It seems they are quite uncommon outside of Mexico and some parts of the southwestern US, and there don’t appear to be many recipes for them available online (even less so if you do not read Spanish).
One of the first recipes I did find was this intriguing pico de gallo recipe featuring xoconostle, jicama, and oregano, which appears to be a traditional recipe in parts of Mexico. It seemed like a good introduction point, so I got to chopping – and I have made and shared it numerous times since. Its attractive mix of colors, lightly crunchy texture, and blend of sour, sweet, savory, and spicy flavors have been a hit everywhere I have served it. I even brought a bowl along to last year’s Thanksgiving dinner. Use this any way you would a standard tomato-based pico. Eat it with tortilla chips. Top tacos, tostadas, and the like with it. Toss it on sandwiches and burgers. Spoon it over chicken or fish. Scramble it into eggs…. You get the idea.
The recipe we are presenting here is pretty close to the original we’ve linked to above, but we’ve tightened up the quantities a bit. For the most recent batch, we decided to play with the formula a bit, too – we still had quite a bit of fresh wild bergamot leaves on hand after making our wildflower jellies, so we decided to add a bit of that in. We originally tried to use it in place of the oregano, but it just wasn’t quite right. Adding the oregano back in along with the wild bergamot, though… that kicked things up a few notches. Obviously, fresh wild bergamot is not something most people have lying around in their kitchen, so don’t fret if you can’t get ahold of any – this is still fantastic using the oregano on its own. But if you do have access, we highly recommend giving it a try.
We hope you enjoy this unique condiment as much as we have. Chele and I have come up with lots more uses for xoconostle since we first tried this simple recipe, so keep an eye out for future posts featuring this unique and surprisingly versatile fruit.
Xoconostle Pico de Gallo
Ingredients
- 2 xoconostles skinned, seeded, and diced small
- 1/4 cup jicama diced small
- 1/4 cup red onion finely diced
- 1 serrano pepper seeded, finely diced
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbs minced fresh wild bergamot leaves (optional)
- 2 Tbs lime juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- To skin xoconostles, start by slicing off the stem end and the broad, flat end opposite it. Then slice the fruit in half and scrape out the seeds and red pulp at the center. Next, use a small, sharp pairing knife (preferably one with a downward-curving tip) and carefully cut the thin skin away from the flesh. I usually start by freeing all of the exposed edges, and then working my way inwards. You should be able to remove the skin in a single piece without too much trouble. Once the xoconostles are peeled, dice them and place them to a bowl.
- Add all remaining ingredients to the bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.
- This will be ready to serve imeadieately. This will keep in the refrigerator for several days without sacrificing quality, but the color from the red onion will start to bleed and turn the entire mixture pink after the first day or so. If you are aiming for the best presentation, this is best used shortly after preparing it.
Notes
- Unless you are in Texas or other southwestern states near Mexico, xoconostles probably won’t be particularly common. Here in the Chicago area, Tony’s Fresh Market has been stocking them regularly, but we have not spotted them elsewhere. Mexican grocery stores and markets with a wide array of “specialty” produce will probably be your best bets on tracking these down. Unfortunately, there simply is nothing else that can substitute for these.
